Muse
by sketching.gray
Summary: SasuSaku. A story of rich kids and the means they take to stay at the top of their music school. Hiatus.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto… Oh, the many conventions I would control…

A/N: All right, I'm just going to say this straight out: I am horrible at keeping characters in character. So instead of struggling throughout this fiction to keep the characters in their zone, I added pieces of myself to each character. So they're not going to be perfectly like the originals, but they're as close as I'm ever going to get. So if you're bugged by this, please don't complain too badly. I'll accept criticism and HELPFUL flames.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy.

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**MUSIC SURVEY!**

Love music? When your favorite song plays, do you have this sudden urge to break out into dance or song? Play an instrument? Are you constantly thinking of scores or lyrics? Maybe both?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, this is the survey for you! Just answer the questions below, and you might win a prize! Be sure to be detailed, don't be afraid to write what you think, and be yourself!

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_**School District?  
**_Konoha

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**_School_?**  
Konoha School for Gifted Boys and Girls

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**_Grade?_**  
Eighth Grade **(1)**

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_**What is music?  
**_Music can be anything. It can dazzle you. It can make you move. It can make you remember the past, or be hopeful for the future. Music can be feelings spoken through words or through an instrument. It can make a average girl brown-eyed, brown-haired girl like me seems like something more. It is self-expression after all, and everyone can relate to one another if we just tried!

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**_Why does music make you, YOU?_  
**It's my escape from all of reality, to let me breathe without someone telling me I'm only second best. I'm free to be myself when I'm writing, and I don't need to know anything other than notes to do it. It's hard to think of other things, such as a certain someone and her inability to protect herself, when I'm thinking of music and writing it down at the same time.

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**_What does music do?_  
**It lets you be yourself! Music has the personality of millions, but it has the face of one. To have so many choices to choose from, yet it all has to be one thing. For me, it turns me into my ultimate dream: a rock star! And I can give a shit if anyone else cares, but I'm going to top that those charts one day! JUST WATCH.

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**_Where does it come from? Your surroundings? Your mind? Or is it as easy as being bribed with money?_  
**I believe music comes from the heart. You need your mind to write it, and your surroundings help to shape a song or a score, but I believe it's mainly the heart's job to give it life. Music that's written for money often has no soul in it. Humans can usually hear this soullessness because we're gifted with natural rhythm from our own hearts, even if we don't notice it everyday. When you're writing a song, you have to believe that the music came from your heart, and that it's not just a piece of paper with your name written on it. And all of this I know without my father having it shove it down my throat.

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**_How did you react to it when you were first introduced to it? Who pushed or encouraged you?_  
**Horribly. I gave up after my first lesson. But my grandfather simply said to try again. And every time after that I began to get more and more reluctantly attached to my bass by the time I was eight because he told me to keep going. "Just because it's troublesome, doesn't mean it's not worth it," was his favorite phrase, even when my grandma was yelling at him. I guess I live by this phrase too.

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_**What does the phrase, '****Listen to music with your heart, not your ears**_**_,' mean?_  
**It means music is not just words written on a piece of paper or a weird symbol that pasted on a bunch of lines. (Duh, even I know that.) It's something that can touch a heart, or even make it cry. Music comes from the heart. And you listen to music from other people's hearts with your own heart. You can hear a lie with your ears. But the heart cannot because the heart only tells the truth. And music is definitely NOT a lie. I mean, who likes lies? Especially from a heart?

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**_Finish the line._  
**_Come at me with all your might, come to me when-_

When you're ready to stagger off your knees.

**_Why did you choose this as your answer? (Be detailed!)_  
**When you're coming at someone, you're probably either wanting to get knocked down or knock them down. If the person you're going at has half a brain, they would probably side-step you, causing you to be an idiot by falling flat on your face. Or at least a foolish person. There. Details.

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**_Why did you choose to take this survey?_  
**Well, I chose to take this survey because of the title, duh. Music Survey? Seriously? I love music, so why not? I'm in choir; I know what half of the weird marky thingies are when you sing them. Besides, me and my friends have nothing better to do in my school's office when they're having computer problems. (I just want my summer reading list for ninth grade. But no, the very day I decide to get it, someone had to hack into the system! Thank you Kami-sama.) That, and because who doesn't want free stuff? I'm going to need it if I'm ever going to Konoha College for Girls! Escalator school or not, everyone knows the girls of KMS have to pay for college, unlike the guys. **(2)**

Oh, Konoha School for Gifted Boys THEN Girls is SO not sexist. Seriously.

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_**Lastly, whom do you see yourself as when you graduate from high school music-wise? **_

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"… Shizune?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"What the hell is this?" A blonde asked. A manicured fingernail pointed to the scattered papers on her mahogany desk. The woman, Tsunade, didn't bother looking at her assistant when she added, "When I said you could do anything for applications, I didn't mean you could turn them into children's surveys!"

"Well, yes, I know, but-"

"And a 'prize'? Shizune, a scholarship to my school is not just a mere, 'prize,' it's an honor! Do you know how many times I've been bribed by foreigners for even the slimmest chance of their snot-nosed brat getting in here? Hundreds of times, Shizune! Hundreds!"

"Yes, I know Tsunade-sama - have you been drinking on the job again?"

"What? No! And don't try to change the subject!" the woman continued, "And these applicants in particular! No manners in any of them! They have no right-"

The blonde went on as the other woman ignored her. Dark brown eyes looked over her superior's shoulder, gathered the misplaced papers into her hand, and chuckled lightly when she read where the papers came from. "Ah, they're from Konoha. One of the smaller schools a certain someone agreed to sponsor for some reason.

"They never did go co-ed, no matter how many times we asked them to."

Tsunade shook her head. "Of course not. Sarutobi is too old-fashioned. 'Girls should be kept separate from boys. That way they won't be distracted,' my ass. Why don't they just make two separate schools?"

"I don't know, Tsunade-sama," Shizune looked at the papers once more. "So?"

"Hm?"

"What do you think of them?" Shizune gestured to the papers in her hand.

Inwardly, Shizune hoped Tsunade would approve of at least one of them. The woman was so picky when it came to applicants, that most student were only able to come to the School of Dance and Song through personal connections to teachers and scholarships. Shizune had looked up the students just in case her stubborn employer and friend needed more proof of these kids' capabilities.

Amber brown eyes blinked slowly for a moment.

"Please, Tsunade-sama? Here, I printed out their résumés for you. They're very good."

Sighing, Tsunade leaned back into her leather chair and slid those eyes shut. The busty woman held her hand out, and snatched the eight files.

Besides the fact they had no manners at all - _"Kids these days usually don't,"_she thought bitterly - Tsunade had to admit their musical talents were good. She skimmed the papers inside the manila files quickly. One had a Kabuki-dancing father, and another was able to play songs like 19's Sound Factory's Dear by the age of ten at a regional competition. Most of them could do some style of dance, whether or not it was formal or informal. Each were prodigies in their own ways, and their personalities - from what she could see from their, "applications," - differed like heaven and hell did. And to top it all off, six out of the eight came from prominent families: the Hyuuga, the Uchiha, the Yamanaka, the Nara, and the Uzumaki.

She particularly had an eye for the other two though. One was a dancer/gymnast. Her résumé had the most competitions listed on it, and most of them she had come home a national champion as a dancer. But even more so than the one called, "Tenten," Tsunade couldn't help but stare at the paper of the one named, "Sakura," seeing as her choir teacher had purposely stopped the application to praise the girl of her singing talents on a green sticky note.

Well, then again, it's probably because she couldn't help but see herself in the girl's hand-writing and skills in the vocal department.

"Tsunade-sama?"

"They have potential. Send out a scout, and give these files to Jiraiya for his approval. Knowing that idiot, he'll agree with me." She stared at the ceiling.

Shizune's eyes brightened. She scampered off with the eight files, now excited to have more students.

The brown-eyed woman cursed to herself. She looked at Shizune, who was halfway out the door, then stared at her assistant's computer, in which had apparently been hacked into. Tsunade was really worried about it, but because her assistant's computer was down, that also meant the saved file that held the Acceptance Letter document was down.

Shaking her head and straightening herself, Tsunade began to type.

"Dear Sir or Madam,

I, Tsunade, Headmistress of the School of Dance and Song, am proud to announce that your son or daughter has been accepted to the wonderful place of S.o.D.a.S. through application…"

Mid-sentence, Tsunade wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into.

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_**Lastly, whom do you see yourself as when you graduate from high school music-wise?**_

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"_I want to be someone who can live up to my mother's name. I may be from the streets, and I may not have some high class name, but I'm going to prove to the world, that with hard work, you can become one of the best!" - Nakamura Tenten_

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"_Away from where I am now, someone higher, and flying like a freed bird. I will be living the life my father was denied!" - Hyuuga Neji_

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"_A ROCK STAR. I'LL BE FAMOUS, AND YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!" - Uzumaki Naruto_

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"_I want to see myself as a better person. NO. I will be a better person. I will be strong enough to make my music heard, to make my words be known. And hopefully, I'll be able to tell the people I care about most the truth through music… because that's all we share together." - Hyuuga Hinata_

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"_I don't care. Maybe I'll find someone to tell me to keep going, like my gramps did before he died. Maybe music can lead me to them. Maybe I'll find someone who's worth it, like my bass is." - Nara Shikamaru_

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"_I'll be a SUPER DIVA. I'll be rich, and living the life! I'll find myself a gorgeous husband, a sexy car, and I'll be the IT Girl. I'll be an independent girl, and I won't need someone to spoil me the rest of my life! Every diva needs a bit of drama, right? Of course they do! That's part of being FAMOUS!" - Yamanaka Ino_

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"_Better. Stronger. Alive. Determined. Ready to take on the world. I will be known, and I will overcome and avenge my past. I will be the best." - Uchiha Sasuke_

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"_I don't know. Hopefully I still have the music in me. But if I do, I think I'll be okay. Music just does that for me. But like I said, I don't know if I'll always have it. I'm just hoping for a better tomorrow, haha!" - Haruno Sakura  
_

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And so we begin.

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(1): In Japan, elementary schools go up to sixth, middle school up to ninth, and high school finishes at twelve.

(2): An escalator school is a school where you transition from one school (middle school for example) to another (such as high school) without any paperwork or having to apply to one. They're common in western private schools, but even more common in Japan.

A/N: …some of you might recognize this. This is my edited version of my previous story titled, SoDaS. There are going to be some major changes in the plot since I have grown as a writer over the years. Please don't kill me D':

And if any of this is confusing, I'm sorry! If you have any questions, ask it through a review, and if it won't be answered easily through the story, I'll answer it for you.

Review, or I'll send the bunnies after you, okay?

Edit: 5.31.10, 11.29.10


	2. Chapter One: Hello Hello

Disclaimer: Nope. Sorry people, if I owned Naruto, the show would be one) named Sasuke since it seems to be circling him more than the one it's actually named after and/or two) it would not be a shounen manga any more since I am a girl that loves shoujo. Enough said.

A/N: Oh, and by the way, sorry if this chapter seems stiff, and if there are too many numbered notes for you to handle. I promise it will be at least a little more relaxed by the next chapter… I hope, haha. And the chapters will not always be this long… it took me long enough to type it as it is.

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"But shishou (1) -"

"- c'mon! I have plans to go to Italy next week-"

"- m-my father would never allow this…"

"What? I want to go home for the summer!"

"No buts, girls. I've already gotten permission from your parents and they say it's fine. Besides, you're doing this for the greater good of the school, and as the student council, it's your job," a drunken smile, "Now get out of here, I'm drinking."

"Shishou, you shouldn't be drinking at school…"

"It's after hours, so it doesn't count. Out already!"

"But-"

"OUT."

Sigh. "Fine. C'mon girls, we might as well get some dinner."

"This is so not fair! I don't want to spend my summer with a bunch of guys who probably have fifty foot poles stuck up their a-"

"Well," an 'OMG-did-you-say-a-bunch-of-guys?' look, "then again…"

"Whatever, Ino-pig. We all know you won't mind. But what about your trip?"

"Eh, Sai can wait for me. Anyway, let's go to the student store! I need more luggage and I need a dress for tomorrow's dance! There was this huge sale at the department store, and OH. MY. GOD (2). I love their skirts. Don't you, Sakura?"

"Ino, we just went for more luggage during Spring Break! (3) You don't need anymore!"

"Says the girl who owns two ratty pieces of 'luggage' and hasn't bought more since you were, what Tenten? Five? Besides, I need to get you guys dresses since I refuse to relive last time's style catastrophe."

"I thought we looked okay…"

" 'Style catastrophe'? We didn't look that bad-"

"OH YES WE DID. Hinata, you always dress all right - a little too conservative - but Sakura, you of all people should know to never wear the same color at two consecutive events! But nooo, you just had to wear the same shade of red twice in a row!"

"HEY. You have to freaking admit, those dresses were suicide-worthy. You do not find those type of dresses on sale very often!"

"I know! Especially that one with the satin on the front - total steal! But that's no excuse!"

"Ino, Tenten's right, you have too much luggage already-"

"Don't bother, Hinata-chan. (4) She's on Mission Impossible, Code: Buy more luggage that I don't need but I want anyway."

"Shut up, Forehead!"

"I love you too, Piggy."

"You are NOT getting anymore luggage. That is final."

Smug look. "Oh, yes I am, and you can't stop me!"

"Oh? Wanna bet?"

"Bring it on, Tenni!"

"Hinata, c'mon, help me knock these two unconscious-"

"Again?" another sigh. "Why can't we all just get along?"

"ARGH!"

"Let me at her credit card! If she's gonna buy anything, it's gonna be something school-related-"

"Forehead, if you don't let me go, you're going to regret letting me choose your dresses!"

Groan. "Are you guys gonna leave my office any time soon?"

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"WHAT."

"Naruto, for the fifth time, you're going to wake up at six and-"

"WHAT."

"Naruto."

"WHAT."

"Naruto, shut up-"

"NO, I REFUSE."

"Ah, troublesome. Why are we doing this again?"

"EXACTLY. This isn't fair, perv, I'm not going to spend my entire summer dealing with a bunch of no-good snobs who don't know how to say anything other than, "OMG, SASUKE-KUN, NEJI-KUN, SHIKA-KUN~! HAVE MY BABIES!"-" (5)

"And how this moron can mimic them so perfectly is beyond my comprehension."

"SHUT UP."

Rolling eyes. "Dobe." (6)

"TE-"

"All four of you are going to wake up at six and you're going to treat those girls with the respect they deserve! Besides, word is that they're not so bad-lookin'… and rumor is you like one of them, Naruto. Sakura, is it?" Raised eyebrows.

"NO, I WON'T DO IT- wait, what?"

"…you're an idiot."

"SHUT UP, SASUKE-TEME (7). As you were saying, old man?"

"Jiraiya, is this really necessary? There are other ways of testing out this idea of a co-ed SODAS after its last failure."

"Really now, Neji? Well, if you can talk to that monster of a school master of ours, be my guest."

"…"

"That's what I thought."

"WAIT, SO I CAN SPEND MY ENTIRE SUMMER WITH SAKURA-CHAN IF WE AGREE?"

"Yep. If you can get your Chairman, Planner, and Guard to agree, she's all yours."

A sharp look. "You bastards better agree or I'll kick all your asses to America."

Smirk. "Someone of your status could never compare to the level of training I've had."

Smirk. "I'd like to see you try, dobe." Walking away.

"AHH! Neji, you're an ass! Teme, get your butt back over here and agree! I have to meet Sakura-chan! TEME!" Chases.

"Troublesome."

"I have to agree with you for once."

"You moron, get the hell off of me! White eyes, do your job!"

"…I'm not touching Naruto's slobber, thank you."

"I have to meet Sakura-chan! And if it means drooling all over you guys, I'll do it!"

"…ew."

"Why am I still here? Oh - NOT ON MY CARPET. Get out of my office, I just had these floors cleaned!"

"DOBE!"

"TEME!"

* * *

Tokyo, Japan…

Located on the island of Honshu, and home to some of the most high end schools in Japan. Home of _**CLAMP**_, the school for multi-talented elites, and of an unnamed school called, 'S.o.D.a.S.' or, _**S**__**chool **__**o**__**f **__**D**__**ance **__**a**__**nd **__**S**__**ong**_.

Inside this prestigious school are eight students that are called the School Cabinet. These eight control the school. For as long as anyone can remember, the Cabinet has been divided in two: the male division Cabinet and the female division Cabinet. Until recently, it was never supposed to change; the two divisions' Cabinets were never meant to mingle unless it was a school emergency.

Both Cabinets are notorious for not getting along too, seeing as the school itself is dominated by girls, yet the male Cabinet has more power. The current headmaster of the school is the first female to take the position since the school opened, and she's finally letting the girls have a say in the SODAS's well-being. Both sides are a little bitter because of this.

Otherwise known as the student board, these kids have tremendous amounts of power in the school. They could override a rule set by the school staff if they had enough information to back up their cause. They could get away with anything… just as long as they were not together as one, big, bitter Cabinet.

Anyhow, SODAS has been a Co-ed school for decades, but due to past situations, it has become a segregated one based on gender for the last few years. But because of recent complaints, Tsunade, the head mistress, has decided to give the school one last shot at being Co-ed.

And this is where our story begins.

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Chapter One: Hello Hello

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Sakura

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Beep. Beep. Beep beep. Beep beep. Bee- slam.

"Ugh… forehead, what the hell…"

"Shut up, Pig, it's too early to argue…"

"Five more minutes… zzz…"

I opened a bleary green eye and stared at the alarm blankly. The first few thoughts that came to my aching head were:

_What time is it? _

_Five? Why did I set it to five? It's the first day of summer vacation…_

After a second, it clicked._ Oh… that's right, we have an appointment with shishou… ah, fuck, my head hurts…_

Rising out of the bed, I stretched. I shivered slightly, only being clothed with a pair of short shorts and a long sleeve. Above me, on the top bunk, I heard soft snoring. Slightly annoyed that my best friend was still sleeping, I called, "Hey. Ino-pig. Get up, we have a meeting at the boy's dorm in two hours."

"Hmm… I don't care."

I rose a brow. I began my way towards the bathroom on the far side of the room, avoiding empty shopping bags and different sets of clothing on the floor. Running water from next door reached my ears and I suddenly came up with an idea and smirked.

"Oh really? Okay then, I'll just go with Tenten and Hinata, without you."

"Sleeeep!"

"All the boys will be so disappointed that their beloved INO couldn't make it because she wanted to sleep more than meet her adoring fans-" I could hear my blonde room mate getting up. I touched the door frame of the bathroom.

"Get outta my way! I'm NOT letting you use the shower first! You take forever!"

I mentally snickered. _Gotcha, bitch! _

"Hey, I got here first! And I only take fifteen minutes! You, on the other hand, _hog_ it for like an hour!"

Blue eyes gave me a, 'did-you-seriously-just-say-that' face. "Horrible pun, Forehead! True, but that's not an excuse for lame jokes! Stop watching those anime shows, they're bad for you!" Ino scolded, placing a hand on her short clad hips and using the other hand to point towards my (very sexy, sleek, black, and definitely well-earned) laptop.

"Anime is not bad for you! It's better than those cheesy soap operas you watch! Ino!"

Click.

"Gotcha bitch!"

It took a moment before my half-dead brain realized that Ino had locked the bathroom door. And that she was inside it.

I slapped my forehead (the one in which my previously mentioned best friend constantly makes fun of) and I rolled my eyes, my head still pounding. _And she says I overuse catch phrases when I do something I think is sneaky. _

Hey, we're best friends - we use each other's phrases way too much and we use endearing nicknames.

Typical.

I sighed - I wouldn't be getting into that bathroom for at least another hour.

Heading over to the closet, I grab my uniform set off their hangers. Rubbing my temples, I throw the bright yellow articles over my arm before heading over to the bathroom again.

"Ino, could you give me my make-up?" I called. A few second later, a pale hand was coming out of the cracked opening of the door. I snatched the foundation, eyeliner, and mascara from it. "Thanks. I'm heading over to Tenten and Hinata's! Meet us outside, okay?"

"Fine!"

"Oh, by the way, I blame you for this pounding headache I have. Remind me _never_ to go to the graduation dance with you ever again."

Ino laughed sarcastically. "And I blame you. The freaking punch was spiked and you're the one who insisted we have it! And you know what, Billboard Brow? If I get dark rings under my eyes, I swear to God, I'll-"

Grabbing my keys and other needs for morning preparation, I exited the room, and ignored Ino's rant. The moment I stepped into the hallway, a somewhat shrilly voice caught my ear.

"Like, Sakura-chan! Ino-chan get the bathroom this time?"

My head screamed. _Why do I have to talk to the one person I know with the highest soprano at this hour? _I turned to face a short-haired, pretty girl.

"Oh, Hoshino-senpai! Yeah, she did," (8) _stupid Ino-pig,_ "Why are you up so early?"

_Better yet, how can one look so freaking happy to be awake? Especially when you could simply sleep in until two if you wanted?_

"I've always been an early riser, Sakura-chan. I'd think you'd, like, know that by now!

"I didn't go to the graduation dance last night, so maybe that's why I'm not tired. I bet someone spiked the punch because my room mate, like, almost threw me out of the room when I woke up!"

_You're telling me…_

"Even if I wanted to go, I wouldn't have been able to. I'm going home today."

Then I remembered - Hoshino-senpai had graduated with the rest of her class yesterday. Slightly more willing to talk, I pushed the fact my headache had gotten worse because of Hoshino-senpai aside.

"You're leaving already? You can't, the others would want to say good bye!"

"Yeah, sorry. I was planning on emailing you four some time around, like, noon today, but my father wants me home and he'll probably throw me a "welcome home" party the moment I step in the door. I haven't been home since Christmas, you know? Being the senior class representative takes a toll on you."

The girl laughed again.

"I see… well, thank you for being so helpful to us last year. Me and the girls couldn't have gone through this year without your support. I'm not sure how we'll make it this year without the former Chairlady by our side…" I bowed towards her.

She grinned. "It was nothing. It may have taken me a while to see why Tsunade chose you to be the Chairlady, especially since you guys were only second years," I could see the remnants of jealously in her brown eyes, "but I totally see it now."

I raised a brow.

"This is somewhat embarrassing to say, and I mean no harm when I say this but… even though you can do the things you do, at first glance, you don't seem like it. I don't know but you and, like, your friends, you guys seem so simple on the outside, and like when people get to know you…" she paused.

"Hoshino-senpai?"

"Never mind. You guys will be juniors this year, so maybe you won't get so many people that were like me bugging you!" The former student grinned once more then whispered so softly, "'Still waters run deep', huh?" that I could barely hear her.

I was about to ask her what she meant by that, but Hoshino's lovely brown eyes were looking behind me. A young man appeared, wearing a crisp black suit. He was panting lightly. "Ojou-sama! Your ride is waiting for you. You will be late for your plane." (9)(10)

"Anyway, I have to go now, Sakura-chan. I'll miss you and the others, and you guys better, like, call me, good luck this year, and tell the others what I just told you, okay?" Hoshino gave me one last hug before rushing off with a wave. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Sheesh, it's Daddy's jet, it's not like they'll leave without me. And if they do, I'll just fire them, what the heck…"

I felt a mental sweat drop forming as I smiled awkwardly and waved back. The pair disappeared around the corner and I furrowed my brows together. _Still waters run deep, huh? Wonder what she meant?_ I shook my head. _I'll never understand rich people's mentality._

An image of Ino popped up in my head and that mental sweat drop got larger. _Except for that rich person. I know how she is._

When I realized I was alone in the large hallway, I rushed over to the room next to mine. The sound of running water from before was still there.

Knock, knock. "Hinata! Tenten! It's me, Sakura. Let me in!"

After a bit of rustling, a messy-looking brunette answered the door. Medium length waves were covered by a wet white towel and the girl was rubbing it on her head. She also had a toothbrush in her mouth and was only clad in a sports bra and shorts.

I laughed when the towel revealed a pair of round brown eyes.

"Morning, Tenten."

"Mornin', Shak'ra. Did Ino gets the showar dish chime?" (Translation: "Mornin', Sakura. Did Ino get the shower this time?")

Tenten moved to the side to let me in. I slid passed her and threw my stuff next to the bed.

I nodded. "Yeah. Freaking Pig tricked me!"

Tenten laughed. "Let me guess: she said something about anime and you got pissed and she locked the door."

"…are we that predictable?"

Tenten just smiled. "Yeah, pretty much. Or maybe it's just you? Anyway, I'll be right back."

I nodded again. Looking around, I saw how the dark gray carpet was clean as a whistle. Not a single shopping bag or stray piece of paper in sight.

_How Tenten and Hinata keep this place so clean, I will never know._

Suddenly a figure appeared from the bathroom. Long black hair trailed after the shorter girl as she came up to me. "Sakura-chan! I'm sorry, I didn't hear you knock! I was just brushing my teeth…"

"Oh, hey Hinata! It's fine, Tenni opened the door for me."

Her pupil-less lavender eyes looked at me. "Tenten just finished using the bath, would you like to use it?" Hinata smiled gently.

"Nah, you go first. I'll chat with Tenten until you come out."

Blue-black hair moved as she nodded. "All right. I'll be right back."

Tenten passed by Hinata at the bathroom door. She looked at me and asked in a slightly strange tone, "Hey, are we supposed to wear our uniforms or is this meeting casual?"

"Tsunade-shishou didn't say. Just wear your uniform," I replied, walking over to this room's bunk. I sat down then crossed my legs.

"`kay."

I flopped back onto the bed. Tenten began getting dressed into the yellow and white uniform.

"I heard you talking to someone outside. Was it Hoshino-senpai?"

"Yeah. She told me to tell everyone that she'll miss us, to call her, and good luck this year. In one sentence, of course."

Tenten pulled the white short sleeve onto her person and fixed her collar. She chuckled slightly. "Yeah, that sounds like her. We're gonna need that luck."

"Hey, Tenni," I said without getting up, "your accent has gotten worse. Did you drink that punch last night?" (11)

"No. I'm just tired! Why the hell did Tsunade schedule a meeting at seven? And at the boy's dorm too!"

"I know, right? It takes at least forty minutes to walk from here to there. And it's summer, and I'm laaazy!"

"Well, I wasn't exactly talking about the exercising, I meant the time. She knows we went to the dance last night."

"Ino just had to drag us to last night's dance! I have a crappy headache right now like you wouldn't believe because someone just had to spike the punch."

"They do that every year. It's like a tradition for the class idiots." Tenten then proceeded to rant about how people were so juvenile and how they made her job so hard. She continued to rant as she finished getting dressed into the uniform and preparing her school bag.

I stared at the bottom of Tenten's top bunk.

"I can't believe Hoshino-senpai graduated."

Tenten stopped her rant. The girl walked over to the bunk and sat down after placing her bag next to the door. She flopped onto the mattress next to me.

"I know. It seems like yesterday she was scowling at us." Tenten sat up and she made a stern, ugly-looking face and imitated with a high-pitched voice, "'WHAT? They are so not worthy of being, like, the best! Like, oh my God! What type of note was that? It was like, so not note-like! Oh my God!'"

We laughed. I copied Tenten's voice and said, "'No, no, no! It's, like, left, right, right, LEFT, left, right, LEFT! Not left, right, right, right, left, right, right! Like, get it right! No, go left! Oh my God!'" We laughed even harder.

"Hoshino-senpai was a horrible dance instructor, even though she was really good at learning it."

"Yeah… too bad she couldn't become a ballet dancer. Her father may be seriously doting, but he's really strict about her job options.

"I mean, she said she could only become a wife or a business major!"

She nodded before placing something next to my head. When I turned to see, it was a bottle of water and some painkillers.

"I usually take those during soccer season. It works for headaches too, though."

I smiled. "Thanks, Tenni."

"No prob!" I downed the pills and some water immediately.

After a while, Hinata came out, wearing her uniform.

"It's open."

"Thanks, Hina-chan!" I stood and gathered my stuff. Once inside, I closed the door and went for the shower.

After wards, I threw my uniform on. Staring into the fogged up mirror, I began combing through my bubblegum pink hair with the closest brush I could grab (Hinata's?). I slapped some foundation on, a bit of eyeliner, and finished it with a little mascara.

I stared at my reflection.

Long, straight, pink hair? Check.

Dazzling, emerald green eyes? Check.

Adorable button nose that I absolutely love? Check.

Perfect milky complexion with absolutely no blemishes (luckily)? Check.

Obnoxiously yellow and white uniform that clashes with just about every color I have on my person, as well as the entire population's if they had to wear it? …double check.

_I'm ready._

* * *

I walked outside the girls' dorm (following my devouring of a cereal bar) and shivered for the second time that day. The sun was barely rising over the horizon. I sat down on one of the green metal benches outside the dorms.

_It's the first day of summer and I'm up like it's a school day. There's something really wrong with this picture._

"Why am I up so early again?"

I reach into my black school bag and pull out a box of Pocky. I nip at the end of one as I let my sleep-deprived head wander. I began tapping my feet, a beat slowly appearing in my head…

_This is the story of the century.  
__A tale of four girls,  
__And their journey to the center of the world.  
_"_Let's go!  
__We have a long way to run!"  
__Can they survive it?  
__Can they survive it?_

"Hello, hello, welcome to our world…"

_Hello, hello,  
__Welcome to our world,  
__Rich punks, bad girls,  
__Spoiled to perfection,  
__With bodies that could give a guy an-_

"C'mon forehead!" Ino yelled, her prized platinum blonde hair swinging in front of me. "WAKE UP!" her intense shaking of my shoulders made my head spin.

"Huh?" I snapped my head back up while I laughed sheepishly at my day-dreaming habit. "Oh, hey Ino. When you'd get here?"

"God, Sakura. I understand it's early and you're tired, but how could you even think of ignoring someone like _me_?"

Ino gave a dramatic pause as I rolled my eyes.

"Kidding! You thinking of a song or something? If you are, how many guitar solos are there?"

"Yes, she was thinking a song. I heard humming and small words. No guitar solo, though. I'm sorry Ino." Hinata said, using her detailed hearing to hear my every murmur. I smiled, silently saying 'Thank you'. She smiled at the recognition.

"Well, whatever you were doing, you better wake up! We have a meeting with the boys' division!" Ino tugged at my shirt, fire in her eyes.

"Fine, fine, just let go of me!" I said, as she let me go. I stood up and dusted myself off, as I said, "Sheesh, Ino, it's like you don't have enough boys to fawn over you anyway. What are you trying to do, get the boys' division's student board to go fan boy on you?"

Ino faced me, the same fire in her eyes. "I don't have enough! I only have a few hundred, unlike a certain someone!" Ino glanced at the oblivious Tenten, "And besides, you can never have enough slaves- I mean- _fan boys_! And yes, I want them to become my man whor-! I mean no! I- grah! I just want to meet them on _time_.

"I want us to go over the Homecoming dance and game's schedule again today and tomorrow too. You guys know how hectic it was last year!" I rolled my eyes at Ino's fuming.

_She's already planning her _- our - _day tomorrow_.

After we finished off the Pocky, we set off towards the boys' dorm. We chatted for a bit, occasionally getting into a random argument/debate about certain things (music, boys, etc.), and pretty much yawned the entire time.

"Why did Tsunade call this meeting anyway?" Hinata asked once we had passed our three-fourth's checkpoint.

"Oh yeah, you had to leave that meeting early, huh?" Ino looked at Hinata. "Well, you didn't miss much-"

"It's cuz we're the guinea pigs for a co-ed SoDaS, which apparently everyone wants _again_. So we're going over to the boys' dorm to meet Tsunade and the boys' division for more details on the matter." Tenten scoffed. She threw her arms behind her head.

"I see…"

"Well, anyway, if this goes well, the co-ed dorm will be built and SoDaS will be permanently co-ed," Ino said, "Which will be fabulous because the two buildings are so far away from each other!"

The blonde stopped, gestured to the closest area - the entertainment district. "The entire school, eating district, entertainment section, courtyard, park, AND shopping district can fit in between! Dude, that's more than three miles!" Ino complained.

"Well, we're almost there, Ino. You can make it," I said slowly.

She huffed, but Tenten cut in.

"We woke up at five, left at six, and we walked for only forty minutes. Geez, that's sucks. We can do WAY better than this," Tenten said, flexing her arms. We all stared at her multiple muscles straining themselves in her arms.

"That's not fair, Tenten. You're the athlete here. We're probably some of the most naturally fit girls here at SoDaS, and I say we did pretty good," I said, pointing to the building that was now coming into view. "Besides, we're here."

We stood before the boys' division's dorm, all the way on the other side of campus from our dorm. I sweat dropped looking at it: it was exactly like a Scottish castle. As we came up closer, the entry door towering over us, probably 90 feet or so, I could tell each of us were thinking, _Big door. _

Score one for them.

* * *

S.o.D.a.S. is a beautiful school. With golden brick pathways, lush greenery, this place was considered the main rival for CLAMP school, which was only across the way. With everything a kid could ever need, (food, entertainment, dorming, a park, shopping, etc.) it was considered a city within itself. Despite this fact, most of the students here go home on a daily basis and have never stepped foot in the dorms. Only thirty percent of the student population actually goes without seeing their families, or goes to school without any supervision at all.

The classes begin at preschool, but many do not choose to do this. Most small children don't have an interest in music until they are older, but the option is available. The school goes all the way through college, where some students choose to go multiple ways. In most cases, students don't go with the music courses, but with other classes and majors.

Anyway, the students who do stay on campus are kept within dorms. With massive levels upon levels of dorms, the two buildings - the boys' and girls' dorm - consist of five levels; the lower you are, the lower your grade/status. Each member of the current Cabinet goes without supervision, and each live on the top levels of their dorms.

* * *

Sasuke

* * *

_Show me what I can't see,  
Tell me that it's going to be,  
__More than all a secret,  
__This song, This murderous rage,  
I release it all from me,  
As I go down fighting.  
(fighting)  
You'll be stone cold dead-_

"YAWN."

I cracked an eye open to glare at the person who happened to sit next to me (unfortunately). Of course, I already knew who it was - not even Hyuuga had the guts to breathe all over me. Then again, only one person smelled this strongly like ramen.

A pair of blue eyes looked at me and rubbed his blonde head sheepishly. "Sorry, teme."

"…idiot. Your breath smells horrible. Did you forget to brush your teeth again?"

"WHAT? NO! I brushed my teeth and my tongue too, see?" Naruto stuck his tongue out at me.

"Naruto, shut up. It's too early for your screaming," Shikamaru said, his small eyes barely open, and his form barely sitting upright.

Naruto leaned back onto the leather lounge chair. "You guys are mean."

"And you're stupid, so just shut it and let us savor the quiet until the female division comes," I said flatly, hoping he wouldn't yell too loudly.

Instead, the blonde his threw his arms back and growled in frustration. I could feel Neji's irritation fall from where I sat. For a moment, I wondered why Naruto gave in so easily, but then I was reminded that _she_ was coming.

The four of us fell into silence.

After some time, I glanced up at the ornate clock above the fireplace to my right. 6:56. I inwardly groaned. They make us wake up at six, just so they can be late?

"Can't believe they're making us wake up at six just so we can escort a bunch of girls." Naruto yawned again, stretching his arms.

Anyone could tell from our eyes we were obviously tired from waking up so damn early.

_I knew we shouldn't have gone to the dance last night._I glared at Naruto again. _How the hell did he get me to agree to go?_

Then I remembered the fact he said he would've told Sai I was gay if I didn't go with him to spike the graduation dance's punch. And knowing that guy, he'd spread this statement without any problems or concern. Naruto also threatened Neji with his secret hair glue (_That crap took freaking five hours to get out._) and for Shikamaru…

I looked at Shikamaru for a brief moment and asked myself how Naruto got him to go. Now that I thought about it, Naruto didn't bribe him or threaten him. I shook my black-haired head.

_Damn. My head hurts. Stop thinking._

It was then I realized Naruto was talking.

"-I mean, it's great I get to meet Sakura-chan and all-"

I stopped listening again.

Sakura. She's all Naruto ever talks about whenever the female division is the topic. "Sakura-chan" this, "Sakura-chan" that. I've seen her before on campus with the other members of the female Cabinet - Bun Girl, Ponytail Girl, Hyuuga Girl - and I don't see why he thinks she's so extraordinary. Aside from the pink hair and green eyes, she's plain. I don't even know her last name, and she's supposed to be the Chairlady: the most talented musician of her division and also the most famous. You would think her music would be broadcasted across the school and its radio station, but I haven't heard anything.

Just about everyone on campus knows me. Even the mere mention of my name causes a discussion (or so Naruto and Nara say).

Uchiha Sasuke.

The prodigy.

The Chairman.

The little brother.

I bit down a snarl. I squeeze my fist.

_How can that plain of a person even make it to the status she's at now? I had to struggle and fight-_

I leaned back into the black leather of the lobby chair, groaning inwardly again. _I need more sleep, damn it_. My eyes slowly closed, listening to the guys' conversation once more.

"Just as long as they're not annoying. If they are… troublesome." Shikamaru, leaned on his hand, which slouched onto the armrest. (The guy makes it obvious since he practically slaps his face when he's leaning on it.) He was barely staying awake from the way he sounded.

"Well, deal with it," Neji scolded, "We're supposed to be setting an example for the student body. And being a co-ed school might do us some good. The less antsy the boys become, the better."

Naruto snorted.

_These idiots are so predictable..._

"That's because they're sickos who don't have the ability to get laid. Like teme! Right, Sasuke?"

_Stay calm._

"Oh my god, guys, he's admitting it for once!"

_Do not choke the idiot._ I cracked an eye open to glare at him for the second time, before closing them again.

"Well, aren't you the charmer?" Naruto rolled his eyes. I opened both eyes, and glared harder. I felt my eyes flicker red. Naruto rolled his eyes again but said nothing.

"They're late," Neji said, looking darkly at the clock. I stared at it as well.

7:10.

Grunting was heard as Shikamaru got up, saying, "I'm getting breakfast. Y'guys want anything?"

"Ooo! RAMEN! RAMEN! RAMEN!" Naruto started dancing around. He kneeled onto the floor, and clasped his hands together. "Oh, dear Ramen Gods, I thank thee for this glorious feast I am about to devour..."

"Can't eat anything other than that crap..." Neji sighed, also getting up, then faced me. He reluctantly faced me, and barked out, "Are you coming?"

I shook my head. "I have to greet them." I gestured my words towards the door. Neji nodded, and turned away. Shikamaru followed.

"If you greet them at all, hell, you barely say anything to us," Naruto snickered. I glared, waving them off sourly. He chuckled, but he went off after the Hyuuga and Nara.

"We'll bring you something back." I heard Shikamaru call. I grunted loudly in response.

_Thank God._

With no one to listen to, I sat there, thinking. Looking around, I saw a few early risers, which was rare, but they came. A couple noticed me and gave me a bow in respect. I nodded my head in recognition. They scampered away, and I smirked to myself.

I wonder if Naruto's precious, "Sakura-chan" can do that. If her looks are anything like her personality, that'd be a _no_. I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees.

Being Chairman made me the most powerful a student can become. I looked towards the fireplace I sat near. It's flickering flames made me wonder if I'll ever see that fire again in _his_eyes… the one I felt whenever he was around.

My fist subconsciously tightened. I could feel my knuckles growing whiter and whiter.

_That man… I will surpass you one day. Everyone will know my name, and everyone will forget you. _

_I will make it happen, I swear it._

It stayed quiet for at least another minute, but then a small melodic sound made me look up at the door. I got off from my thoughts, walking towards the large, yet surprisingly light door. I placed a hand onto the door, and took a silent breath. I could hear small voices on the other side of the door.

Gripping the door handle, I swung it open, to reveal four girls. Seeing their gold and white uniform, I immediately knew who they were - no other female student was allowed to wear gold unless they were of the best of the best.

I couldn't take any chances. Though the material is hard to copy, the overall look of SoDaS's uniform was easy to mimic.

The first person I noticed was Naruto's Sakura. A pair of soft green eyes stared at me blankly and pink hair blew towards me because of the wind from outside.

_Strange. I don't remember her being this pretty…_

"Are you the female division?"

Seeming to regain herself, Sakura nodded. "Y-Yes. We are the f-f-female division."

I stared her down for a moment, and thought, _Why do I feel so nervous?_

* * *

A/N: FINALLY. You know how long it took me to get this right? I had written almost a twenty page chapter before I reduced it to this. D:

Anyway, sorry this is very late. With school and everything, it's hard for me to just unwind.

Here are the notes. Mind you, I'm not so sure on some of them (or all of them for that matter), but I tried. If you're new to the whole, "Sakura-CHAN," or, "Hoshino-SENPAI" thing, I suggest you read my notes: I explain just about everything I know in them. And I do research, so most of it is legit, but I may be mistaken. Why do I do this, some of the more experienced fan fiction reader might ask? Why explain everything?

Because I can. And because I hate feeling lost when I read something I usually understand.

(1) Shishou:  
A term similar to the word, "sensei," but it's more like a teacher at a job rather than just a flat-out teacher like sensei is.

(2) God/Kami?  
Kami is the word for a god in Shinto, the original Japanese religion. I wasn't sure which one to use, but I decided to stick with "God" instead of "Kami" because it seems more natural for me. Just stick a sticky note in your head while you're reading this story: when you read, "God," I mean that they're really saying, "Kami" because I want the characters to be either Buddhist or Shinto… or better yet, both. Okay? Okay.

(3) Japanese School Calendar VS. American School Calendar  
I live in America. I know the American School Calendar: school ends at the beginning of summer, and begins in fall. I will be using the American System for this story. As for the Japanese School Calendar, I won't be using it, because it's too much effort, quite frankly. I write fan fiction to relax, not stress! ;D All I know is that they have a few more holidays that don't last as long as ours, and that their school year begins in spring.

(4) -chan:  
A name suffix. This suffix is more informal to use. This one is generally used (from my knowledge) for one) younger children and babies, two) a girl that one is socially comfortable with, or three) to make a name cuter. (i.e. Takeshi-chan. Takeshi is a boy's name, and when one hears a boy being called this, it's usually either a family member calling him, a friend who's a girl and wants to call him something cute, or a friend that's trying to insult him with a pet nickname… I think.)

(5) -kun:  
A name suffix. This, also like -chan, is more informal to use. From what I've learned, -kun is used for one) for someone younger than you, or two) by a girl for the guy she's socially comfortable with, or has a crush on.

(6) Dobe:  
This one, I'm not so sure about. Everyone has different translations and opinions on it, that I just translate it as this: idiot. Moron. Dumb ass. Basically, it's an insult. -_-

(7) Teme:  
This one, I'm also not so sure about. Everyone also has different ideas on what it means, but I translate it as such: it's basically a rude way of saying, "YOU!" and is equivalent to the term bastard.

(8) Senpai:  
This term is used when one is addressing someone with either one) more experience or is wiser than one's self, or two) is an upperclassmen in school.

(9) Ojou:  
This term pretty much means, "lady". It's usually used for a rich/elite girl. -sama is an appropriate name suffix for this. You could also add a name in front of this term. (i.e. Hoshino-ojou-sama would mean Lady Hoshino, which would indicate that Hoshino is from a rich or privileged family.)

(10) -sama:  
A name suffix. This term is more formal to use. This term is usually used for someone you hold in high regard, or for someone you HAVE to hold in high regard. There are other name suffixes that show high respect, this is just one of them.

(11) Japanese Accents  
Like America has its own accents, Japan also has accents. The one I'm using, specifically, is the Kansai region's Osaka-ben. While most Japanese can understand each other no matter what dialect they have, Osaka-ben has been noted by the fact it's used often in a type of Japanese comedy that includes puns, and other word jokes. Some of the things Osaka-ben speakers say can sound a little funny to someone who does not speak it. In this story, Tenten originally had an Osaka accent, and was made fun of in middle school for it. She's been trying to fix her accent by using the dialect that Sakura and the others have (the Tokyo accent).


	3. Chapter Two: The First Time That We Met

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But hell, I can dream, right?

A/N: And yes, I changed the title. Before, on my previous account, this story was called SODAS. I reread this story, then the other SODAS, but now that I know what I have planned for this, I realized that these two are almost completely different stories. It almost feels like the authoresses are different too, haha. So I renamed this one… hope you don't mind.

* * *

Sasuke

* * *

I scanned them all, burning each face into my memory, knowing I would be forced to work with them over the next year. Each of them were staring at me like I had grown another head. I scoffed to myself.

_Typical girls._

Nevertheless, they seemed legitimate enough. Moving to the side, I opened the door wider. The four entered, each one bowing on her way in. And like typical high-class girls, they waited for me, the host supposedly, to seat them.

I motioned towards the eight plush leather seats that I and the other members of my Cabinet were sitting at before. They all sat down graciously.

Ponytail suddenly elbowed Pinky (Sakura). Pinky glared at her fellow Cabinet member (a look I know all-too-well) before facing me once more. This time, instead of staring at me blankly, she had a familiar red streak across her face and she didn't stutter when she said the following: "Uchiha-san, as the Chairlady of the female division, I give you our most sincere apology for being so late." Fierce eyes glared again at Ponytail. "We hope you'll forgive us."

She bowed deeply.

Keeping my indifferent look, I muttered an, "It's fine," when I saw a head of pink rushing towards my mid-section.

"Wah!"

I raised my arms slightly to catch her.

My first impression of the girl Naruto admired so much:

One) A typical girl with typical friends that do that thing that girls typically do around me.

Two) No center of balance.

Three) Klutz.

Four) No where near the area a Chair should be at when it comes to talent and grace.

As she opened her eyes to look at me, I was greeted with a warm smile and an embarrassed, "thank you".

I wanted to glare, but I simply thought to myself, _Typical girl._

* * *

Chapter Two: The First Time That We Met (Typical)

* * *

Sakura

* * *

"We're late!"

"Of course we're late, we took a small detour, remember? You took forever in the shower, and didn't get to eat, so you had to stop at the vending machine!" I sang.

"That is not the reason we're late. That barely took a moment!" Ino pointed out.

"'That' being you screaming at the thing because the chips didn't come out completely-"

"Well, that's not gonna help us now," Tenten insisted. "I guess that means we'll have to apologize."

I went back to staring at the door. _It really is big, _I thought. Snapping outta my trance from the (deadly-looking) entrance, Hinata, who was at my left, rang the doorbell. Surprisingly, it was sweet sound, not the booming voice I suspected to hear.

(It kinda makes me think of the American story, _Wizard of Oz_. Maybe a short dude with a funny green hat will pop out, and say, "Welcome to Emerald City! Where all your wildest dreams come true!")

But when the door opened, to my disappointment - yet utter delight - a handsome onyx eyed boy answered. And I don't think I've ever seen a guy so handsome that he back-tracked into beautiful before.

_Oh my God. I think I've just found the world's hottest teenager. How did I miss THIS around campus?_

I instantly closed my face hole with a click.

The first thing out of his mouth was, "Are you the female division?"

His voice was incredibly… velvety. Soft, deep, and mellow. I was instantly attracted, and it made me wonder for a moment how his singing voice would sound. (Sexy, more than likely.) I was taken back by the question though, but I answered, "Y-Yes. We are the f-f-female division."

_Smooth, Sakura. Just stutter your way into Sexy-Man's heart, why don't 'cha?_

The boy looked all of us over. I glanced at Ino and I felt my heart fall: she was staring.

With _that_ look in her eyes. This was not good, especially for me. Ino always got the guy she wanted.

Me, on the other hand, not so much.

I quickly realized I wasn't wearing my glasses. I wanted to look proper, so I brought them, but as I looked at this boy, I thought I could hold off.

When the boy moved to let us in, Ino was the first to step up. I watched as she gave him a flirty look before and after her bow, in which he ignored. I was last to go. My mouth went dry from the moment he looked at me, and even drier when I bowed to see how long his legs were.

Sexy-Man- I mean, the boy then led us to a ring of eight chairs. I almost ran towards them, but right as I sat and put my bag down, Ino elbowed my side as she whispered, "His last name is Uchiha." I gave her a face.

_Oh yeah. We're late, aren't we? Gotta apologize… _

I also couldn't help but note that Uchiha was, indeed, a very nice name.

Standing again, I went before the boy. "Uchiha-san, as the Chairlady of the female division, I give you our most sincere apology for being so late." (1) I gave Ino-Pig another face, and I bowed as deeply as I could in front of the Uchiha "We hope you'll forgive us."

Once I heard, "It's fine," I tried to stand, but suddenly gravity was my enemy, as I felt my balance slip.

_Wow, Sakura, you're on a roll today! First stuttering and now falling at Sexy-Man's feet! Real clever. Ino has this one in the bag._

I hate my brain sometimes. The thing has a mind of its own.

Then I felt a pair of arms catch me, and it came to my attention I had been saved from a face plant.

I looked up (how tall can one hot guy be? 6'3? Maybe four? Possibly five?), my face flaring a bazillion different shades of red, and gave a small, "thank you" with an icky smile.

As his hands left my body, I felt the texture of his hands/fingers for a short moment: calloused, yet well-cared for. The intellectual side of my mind set in, and it immediately told me, "serious musician, experienced to a large degree, and must play an instrument similar to guitar or violin."

I practically ran back to the chairs.

Not wanting to face Ino or her elbow again, I sat next to Hinata, who was sitting across from the blonde, and began to observe my surroundings to calm down my embarrassment, it usually worked pretty well.

The place was definitely masculine. All earth tones. I rubbed the black leather of the chair, glancing at the river stone fireplace, and the deepest colored wooden floors I have ever seen. One of those antler chandeliers hung above our heads, along with another one close to the monster of a window that over looked the stairs going upward. Overall, it was impressive. Not exactly to my tastes (if this was a competition, the girls' dorm wins hands down) but it was nice.

Our host, Uchiha-san, took the seat farthest away from any of us. I studied him from the corner of my eye.

And I had to say, he was VERY (very, very, very) good-looking. He had black hair that spiked up at the back, making him look like one of those exotic birds, or maybe a duck's butt. It was stylish, but not over-the-top. Several strands framed his china-plate-fair complexion and deep black eyes stared at the floor. As I continued to stare, I realized that his hair wasn't entirely black - there was a hint of dark blue in there. (Swoon.) His uniform was mostly worn to code, but not enough so he didn't look like a stickler for rules. A single silver chain poked up from behind the uniform's high collar. Somewhat large hands let his head rest on them with a neutral look on his face. He had delicate features that any girl would adore and envy, and enough presence to make himself known to any man.

I smiled to myself as I admired him, and my insides melted.

Uchiha-san had to be part of the Co-ed project. No one else could wear that black uniform and be up this early looking as tired as he does if he wasn't.

I recalled a personal session Tsunade-shishou had with me when I began my training to be the Chairlady. It was sometime last year, around this time, now that I thought about it.

"_As the Chair, you must master all things a star must have: light, power, and beauty. You've mastered the light, you have talent, Sakura. You may not ooze it like Ino does, but you have some. People will notice you for this. Power came with time: you went through the ranks, until you were powerful enough to take this position. Some never get to power, Sakura, so consider yourself lucky. And lastly, beauty. You may not be the most beautiful star, nor the most graceful, but you stand out… and that's enough."_

There was the possibility of this teen being Chairman. I mean, he fit most of the star description. I'm not sure about the light, but power YES. The Uchiha family, one of the most powerful families in the Tokyo area. The Uchiha's are very rich, so yes.

Don't get me started again with beauty. Because he really is handsome... I looked at him again, and suddenly, I felt the heebie-jeebies.

_Then again, I kind of get the feeling he's an ass…_

* * *

Sasuke

_

* * *

_

She's quite observant...

I thought to myself, watching the pink-haired girl dart her eyes from left to right, glancing at everything at least once. I moved my hand to see her school bag's name tag.

_**Haruno Sakura**_

_Haruno Sakura, eh?_ I thought. _Spring field Cherry blossom... how fitting._ (2) I thought, giving her hair a glance. It was long, and it looked well-cared for, but it was really distracting. How could it be natural? It probably wasn't, but still, why would anyone choose to have pink hair? How could the school even allow this? And those green eyes cannot be real. Contacts.

"TEME!"

Without turning around, I swung my fist upward.

"FUCK. You ass, what was that for?"

He began mumbling incoherent words, probably rubbing his sore face caused by my knuckles.

"Dobe, stop shouting. The female division is here." I said, pointing to the girl called Haruno Sakura. I turned to look at him.

_Oh God._

Naruto was giving Sakura one of the most brilliant smiles I've ever seen him make at a person. I rolled my eyes. The blue of his eyes were barely visible surprisingly - a sign I've known because of our nine years of friendship that this person means a lot to him.

He sprinted towards her and sat down on the chair next to her.

"OH MY GOD, HI. I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm your biggest fan!" He grabbed both her hands in his, "Holy shit, you're really here! This is so cool!

"When I first saw you when we were freshmen, I immediately fell in love with your music! You seriously have no idea how badly I've wanted to meet you! Oh my God, you're so pretty in person! Aren't you usually wearing glasses? But that doesn't matter! You're flat-out pretty in anything you wear-"

I watched the girl go from shocked to embarrassed to annoyed all in a few sentences. Her face was shaded pink. Naruto continued to go on and on; he left no room for the girl to get a word in. I couldn't tell if her twitching eye was from shock or from irritation.

"Uchiha."

Neji handed me a plate with a piece of toast on it. I didn't have to look at the long-haired boy to know that he was stiffer than usual.

"N-Neji-nii-sama…" (3)

And I think I know why.

"Hinata-sama."

I gave a fleeting glance at the person he was looking at - the Hyuuga Girl. And across from her, I saw Ponytail stand angrily and point at Nara. I sat back in my chair, thinking, _Not even fifteen minutes have passed, and I'm already tired of the female Cabinet. _

As the two Hyuuga engaged in a polite (and an one-sidedly bitter) conversation about their families, Ponytail went at it.

"Shikamaru? Why are you here?"

Shikamaru looked at her, and his face displayed disgust. "Well, I'm wearing the Male Cabinet uniform. Isn't it obvious why I'm here, Ino?"

The blonde girl got flustered and blurted back, "Well, you could be an early riser now! I haven't seen you in, like, nine years!" I noted she ignored the uniform statement.

Shikamaru coughed. "Troublesome girl…"

"WHAT?" the girl - Ino, I guess - flared.

"Ino, calm down, you're making a racket!" Sakura cried from her seat next to Naruto. Naruto seemed a bit surprised from her outburst.

"Shut up, forehead!"

Naruto looked at Ino strangely. "…forehead?"

Sakura's face went red she looked at me before facing the blonde girl again. "Shut up, Ino-pig!"

"Make me, billboard brow!"

"Oh, I'll make you, you hog!"

"BRING IT."

With a snarl from both, each girl practically threw themselves at the other, and an entire argument ensued. Apparently the girls were ignoring everything around them as they began spitting out insults left and right.

_Oh God,_ I repeated in my head.

"Pig!"

"Forehead!"

"Fatty!"

Gasp. "OTAKU!" (4)

Bigger gasp. "Excuse me? You-"

"Uh… guys?"

"WHAT," the pair screamed, veins popping up from each.

The Hyuuga girl, Hinata, let her eyes dart between them and the rest of us. Sakura proceeded to look at Naruto, who was shocked (he was probably thinking along the lines of 'Sakura-chan can yell?'), then followed Ino's line of sight, which had immediately looked my direction.

I simply looked away from, yet again, another set of fan girls.

They both apologized to everyone and began grumbling a gamut of colorful words. Both girls took a step from the other after giving a glare.

Bun girl shook her head.

"I'm sorry about that; they argue all the time. I'm sure you guys are better at keeping your personal… 'nicknames' to yourselves, unlike us," she said, looking at Ponytail and at Pinky. Sakura rolled her eyes. Ponytail 'hmph'ed.

"Not really," Shikamaru deadpanned.

She ignored him, and continued. "Anyway, should we get going? We're late as it is, and I don't want to make Jiraiya-sensei and Tsunade wait any longer."

Shikamaru quirked his brow at the lack of a honorific on Tsunade-hime's name. (5)

"Of course. They've been waiting because you were late, so let's not delay." Neji spoke, turning his back on Hyuuga Girl. He began stalking off towards Jiraiya's office in the North Wing. I began walking the same direction as well, leaving the others to follow.

* * *

Sakura

* * *

Tenten fumed quietly. I could tell she was not happy with the response Hinata's relative gave to her comment. Then again, neither we the rest of us, but Tenten had a thing for respect and being respected.

I stood up when Hinata gestured to come closer to her if they wanted to know what was up, and the four of us began walking after the boys.

"He's my cousin," she told us without having to ask. "My dad's brother's son."

Ino tilted her head, and calmly said, "Wait, your dad has a brother? He doesn't seem like the type to have a brother."

"…he passed away."

Oh. That's why she never mentioned an uncle. And judging from the manners of the guy, why she never mentioned a cousin either.

"Hm," Tenten hummed. We all knew that she was not being as sympathetic as she could be.

Suddenly, a bright color highlighted the corner of my sight.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Woah, Uzumaki-san! Don't sneak up on people like that-"

"Anyway, like I was saying before we were interrupted, I'm a huge fan of yours! You're really pretty, and you have the greatest personality, and I would love it if you gave me a chance, so will you go out with me? And you know what? This reminds me of that song you sang at the Sakura Festival last year-"

I stopped.

Oh, no, he did not just-

Before I made an utter fool of myself, I was saved. "Uzumaki-san, please, we're professionals here," Tenten bit out, "Can you wait until afterwards to profess your undying love?"

Naruto glared at Tenten.

"What? I am being professional! You won't find any one more professional than me!"

"Really? Even Shikamaru is more professional than you, and he's as lazy as the day is long! I mean, look at him!" Ino called, pointing towards the gangster-looking boy with the ponytail and sharp eyes. For some reason his posture and face just screamed, "Delinquent!"

(Gangster-Shika. It totally fits.)

I felt a hand push me from behind.

"Hinata?"

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, but it would be best if you don't start yelling on us while we're in front of the boys' Cabinet. I know you hate it when someone asks you out without getting to know you first, but we have to meet these people on a daily basis for the next year. I would like my junior year to be pleasant, you know?"

I nodded, suddenly feeling bad. I was about to explode on Naruto, and I didn't even think of what troubles the others would have because of me.

I made a face. _I blame the fan boys. Their constant questions for dates made me this way!_

"Anyway, buck up! We have to make a good impression, right?"

"Yeah," I smiled at Hinata, who gently curved her lips upward. "Thanks Hina-chan."

Behind us, I heard Ino and Naruto beginning a full-out banter. And no, I didn't want to know what they were discussing.

I turned to look ahead of us (okay, so maybe I only wanted to stare at Uchiha-san's back, but his back is definitely good-looking!) and took a fill of the hallways. I reached into my school bag, and put my glasses on. It was fairly dark, and apparently the interior designer for this place had something against bright lights and windows, because the sconces weren't helping me see my feet. And the wood paneling? So last century.

"This place is kind of scary…"

"Yeah," Hinata replied, "it is, isn't it?"

I spotted the three other boys stopping at one of the many doors. As I came closer, I noticed a gold sign next to it, reading, "Asst. Head and Dean: Satomoto Jiraiya".

Uchiha-san knocked on the door, and said, "Jiraiya! It's us! The female Cabinet is-"

"Come in, come in!" a sing-song voice called from the other side.

I made a face to myself. I've heard rumors about the dean - most of them weren't good. According to Ino, who gets every piece of gossip because she knows she can, and Tenten, who's can't help but get all the juicy stuff because she's the one who deals with the girl fights, all the girls who got into major trouble are sent here. And both of them agree on this from those girls' stories: he's a pervert.

A big one.

Someone even told me he writes "erotic romance novels".

Yeah. That type of guy is our dean, and the male Cabinet's supervisor.

And if that high-pitched voice (filled with a little too much enthusiasm) is any indication, I have rights to believe he is a pervert. But oh well, how bad can he be?

Uchiha-san and Hinata's cousin opened the doors, and Gangster-Shika stepped aside to let us in.

I couldn't help but go a little red. I mean, c'mon. Hyuuga-san, as rude as he was before, is very good-looking in that mature, grown-up, and 'I'm-so-much-better-than-all-of-you' type of thing. And Uchiha-san? He's just plain hot. Like in that smooth, dark, mysterious, and everything you'd expect in a spy.

Now that I think about it, he'd make one great spy. Or a vampire. Depends.

"Ah, welcome, welcome! This is the first time I've seen you girls up so close, and in-person!"

I snap out of my daydream to see a white-haired man getting up from behind his large wooden desk. He's wearing a yukata, and his spiky mane is tied into a ponytail. His hair is really long; it reaches his lower back. (6)

_Why the hell is he wearing that? Is there a festival today that I don't know about?_

"Hello, you must be Haruno Sakura-san," the man, Satomoto Jiraiya, grins at me. He offers his hand.

"Yes. Thank you for having us here, Satomoto-sensei." (7) He laughed, as I slowly took the hand, and shook it gently.

"Oh, you don't have to call me that, ladies. Call me Jiraiya! Or Jiraiya-chan if you must," I gave a nervous laugh.

_No._

"Have a seat, girls, have a seat! Hime is, once again… late."

I flashed the other three girls a look. _Why not this once? This is our first impression, and she's late!_ Hinata shot her "it happens every time" smile, Ino groaned, and Tenten shrugged.

We sat down in the eight seats in front of Jiraiya's desk, following the boys sitting in the seats next to us. Sasuke had taken the seat beside me, his face indifferent.

"In the meanwhile, girls, why don't you introduce yourselves?" The dean smiled, then glared at the boys beside us. "Ladies first."

_Then again, I don't know any of these guys' names either,_ I hummed in my head, giving my ":)" smile. Ino elbowed me again, after she saw me. I rubbed my gut as she spoke.

"I'm Yamanaka Ino. This is Forehead Girl." She gave a brilliant smile.

Elbowing her back, I glared at her with a whisper, "Shut up, Ino-pig." I looked at the boys, and smiled as well, trying not to flinch when Ino jabbed me again. "It's Sakura. Haruno Sakura."

Jab.

"Nakamura Tenten."

Jab.

"Hyuuga H-Hinata."

Jab, jab.

Jiraiya nodded, and I bent over a bit to see what he was writing on his large desk, but he placed a hand over it when he looked up. He glanced at the boys, his eyes no longer shining like they were when he looked at us.

"Boys?"

Blonde shot up. "I'm Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto grinned. "I'm gonna be number one on the charts one day, so remember that name!"

"Sit down, Naruto," three people said at once.

Apparently this happened often, as Naruto slid down into his seat with only a glare.

"Neji."

I saw Tenten cross her arms out of my peripheral vision.

An awkward silence followed as we waited for either Neji's last name, or for someone else to announce their name. When no one made a move - Gangster-Shika was staring out the window, Neji had his arms crossed, and eyes closed, and Uchiha-san seemed to be in the same position - Naruto and Jiraiya groaned.

"God, you guys! You're a bunch of assholes!"

Jiraiya promptly hit all four of them with a giant paper fan. Its sides said, "DISCIPLINE. RESPECT. ACTIVE LIFESTYLES. STRENGTH. DETERMINATION.". (8)

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR, OLD MAN?"

"You don't curse in front of ladies!"

"Ladies? Where? All I see are girls."

Tenten, Ino, and I did our best to restrain ourselves from pummeling the blonde into the nice-looking carpet. (Which looked like it had just been cleaned, except for the one spot near the entrance.) But we calmed down somewhat when Jiraiya duct-taped Naruto's mouth shut. The teen struggled to get it off, but it wouldn't be removed. (Thank God.)

Shikamaru stared blatantly at the fan, and asked, "Where did you get that?" with a slightly pained, yet shocked expression.

The others didn't seem as shocked, but the aura of the room suddenly plummeted.

Jiraiya looked at the fan, and shrugged. "A certain someone gave it to me. Now, will you, or will you not, tell these nice girls your names?"

Uchiha-san scoffed, rubbing his (luscious black-haired) head, but he said, "Uchiha Sasuke."

I smiled to myself. _Sasuke. So that's his name._

"Nara Shikamaru. God, didn't have to hit me, you troublesome man…"

It was then the door decided to slam open.

"Whoa, sorry I'm late, everyone!"

I quickly switched my head around, and proceeded to groan. Tenten immediately stood. "Tsunade, you made it!"

Tsunade grinned, her face a little pink. She stumbled across the maroon carpeting, and towards Satomoto-sensei's desk. "Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Tenten! There you are! Oh my God, you four look so pretty in your uniforms todaaay~!"

Insert sweat drop.

"Crap," I swore under my breath. "Of all the days, she has to choose to be drunk now? Typical Shishou…"

Ino also stood, and pointed accusingly.

"Have you been drinking during breakfast again?"

"What? Of course not, Ino-chaaan! What makes you say that?" Tsunade feigned being appalled.

"I can smell you from here! You know my nose is sensitive!" Ino gasped.

"Um, Tsunade-hime, where is Shizune-sensei?" Hinata asked looking around Tsunade, but seeing no one.

Tsunade also looked behind her. "Hm. I don't know."

I slapped my forehead. "Shishou, we're front of the boys' division - could you please, at least, try to keep your personal secretary close to your person?"

The long-haired blonde continued to look around her as if Shizune was simply hiding before Satomoto-sensei interrupted.

"No problem girls, it's not a problem. I'm used to her being like this," he said before standing up, and asking Tsunade, "Let me guess, Tsunade: Shizune is the one who has the files."

"… fuck."

He grinned, knowing he had won some kind of battle.

Suddenly, the door slams open again, and in comes a panting Shizune.

"Oh! Shizune! Where have you been?"

The dark-haired woman glares at her superior. "Tsunade-sama, you promised you wouldn't run off! You know I still don't understand the new layout of the boys' dorms!" She groaned, before softly tugging on the leather leash she held.

"Is that… a pig?" Naruto gawked, his words still audible past the tape.

"Yep. It's Shishou's pet, and our personal mascot!" I said like it was obvious. Ino instantly got up, and picked Tonton (our favorite _real_ piggy) off the ground.

"Tonton! I haven't seen you in a while!" she cooed, and sat back down. Hinata smiled, and played with the pig's snout. And I patted her head. Tonton squirmed cutely.

Shizune then came in between Uchiha-san and I, and placed the files on the desk.

"Are you okay, Shizune-sensei?" Jiraiya asked, "Do you need to lay down?"

"No, I'm all right, thank you. Like I said, I'm not familiar with the boys' dorm's format. I've been running around for the last ten minutes, looking for both Tsunade-sama and for your office!"

I watched Neji pull up an extra chair for Shizune. She took the chair gratefully with a, "Thank you, Hyuuga-kun."

I give him a look when he turned to sit back down. _Oh, now you decide to nice, Hyuuga-kun. _I flashed my eyes towards my friends. While Hinata did nothing, Ino rolled her eyes, and Tenten began to fumed quietly again, mumbling, "Suck up."

After Tsunade popped a few headache pills (and I know that's what they are), Jiraiya moved out of his seat to make room for Tsunade. Her voice calm and cool, she said, "Now that we're all here, I have a question: do you all know why you're here?" She immediately looked towards me.

"Of course."

And a moment later, "Yes."

I looked beside me, and thought, _So Sasuke-san really is the Chairman of the boy's division!_ I giggled in my head. _I knew it! Only the Chairs are allowed to speak for the Cabinet when an answer is needed._

_Oh, God, I feel like a little girl obsessing over her crush now._

* * *

The Cabinet each has four positions: the Guard, the Planner, the Vice, and the Chair. The Guard is in charge of student welfare and security, the Planner is the one to plans and creates the many activities the school holds, and the Vice controls budget and is often used as a secretary. The Chair is the most powerful amongst the Cabinet, and is the representation of their division to the school staff.

They work like a government. The Planner suggests a festival, and requests a date. The Vice confirms or denies the date. The Guard chips into the plan for the student's well-being. Once it's all planned out, it's presented to the Chair, who either clears it, or denies it. The Chair then presents it to the school's staff, who can approve or disapprove of it. The school staff also used to relay this information to the other Chair and their members, but now that the Cabinet contains all eight of them together, it may not be necessary any longer.

Recently though, it's been seen that other members of the Cabinet take up jobs that their position usually does not have to do. But since the Cabinet still works like clockwork, nothing is said.

* * *

Tsunade nodded. "Good. Of course you eight know the problems we've been having ever since the school segregated the student body, and of all the complaints I've been getting from parents. And you eight also know we're going to try Co-Ed out by using you, correct?"

"Yes."

Sasuke said nothing, but his eyes obviously told everyone he got it.

She stood, walking towards the window, and looking out of it. The light shone through her long blonde locks.

"You're probably wondering why and how we're going to test this out, and it's not as bad as you think," she said. "Jiraiya, could you give them their papers?"

The man nodded, and went for the file on his desk. He opened it up, and I got a glimpse of what looked like schedules.

He handed the papers to Tenten, and told her to pass them down. She did as ordered.

"A school schedule? Wait, Tsunade, are you telling us that we have to go to school during the summer?" Tenten asked, eying the paper.

Aw, hell no. There was no way I was going to go to anything even somewhat related to summer school. No.

Ino passed the paper to me, and I passed it to Sasuke-san, who took it without much thought.

I looked over the paper with a harsh eye. It looked like the schedule we usually received before the school year began. But as I looked closer, I realized that there were no periods or subjects listed. Just teachers.

"Well, sometimes you will, Tenten," Tsunade spoke. "But we've decided on a little change.

"As you can see, there are no particular times listed on those. Before this year, the Cabinet members have acted like regular students here at SODAS: taking classes the same way, having the same after school activities, and sleeping in the same dorms. Not anymore, though.

"Shizune, the lights, please?"

Shizune got up from her spot, and proceeded to turn off the lights in the room, as Tsunade closed one of the two windows. Jiraiya brought down a projector screen from the bookshelf behind his desk. Once the room was completely dark, an projector was switched on.

With a marker, Tsunade began to write onto the projector. "Both Jiraiya and I have decided to isolate the Cabinet from the student body. Both because," she wrote the words, 'CO-ED EXPERIMENT' and 'ADVANCED SCHEDULES' onto the glass, and it projected nicely onto the wall. "Of the experiment and of the schedules you eight will have this year."

She looked at us, putting the marker down, and continued. "We cannot let anyone know of the experiment we're conducting. It will spread too much excitement amongst the students, and their very wealthy and powerful parents. Some of that excitement will not be the good kind, thus, we have been forced to move the Cabinet to the old, abandoned Park and Rec center by the school."

Ino stood. "What? That musty old place? We cannot stay there! What will people say when they see the most _talented_, _beautiful_, and _most powerful _students in a crabby, disgusting, disease-ridden-"

"Ino."

"- dusty -"

"Ino, we get the point," I snapped lightly. Ino glared at me, then faced Tsunade, her eyes hard. "As Ino was saying, that place is unsuitable for the Cabinet, Shishou! Why there of all places? Why not in the entertainment district, in that new Parent's Treat hotel that just opened for the parents? You know, the one based off of The Peninsula in Tokyo?" I asked. (9)

Speaking of the Tokyo Peninsula, I would love to go there again. (Off topic, I know.) Ino-pig went there for her sixteenth birthday, and dragged me and the others along. Definitely worth returning.

Tsunade sighed, and said, "No, Sakura, we can't put you there. That place isn't meant for students, nor is it soundproof in any way for your music classes." Right as the younger blonde girl was about to interrupt, the headmistress went on. "But the Park Center is being renovated for you. It should meet your expectations once it's done, Ino."

Ino leaned back in her chair, somewhat satisfied.

"Moving on, your classes will be more rigorous, and now that you all are upperclassmen, its difficulty should be no problem. Math, science, the arts, everything." I could hear Naruto attempting to mutter from where I sat. "And because you eight will be the center of attention for SODAS, this also means your schedules can no longer by like most students, either. You will be studying, eating, moving, and learning together for the next school year.

"That's right, Uchiha-san, _together_. Stop making that face."

I let my eyes wander to my right, and almost sighed. Sasuke's face looked slightly constipated and in pain, and yet… still very, very hot. Why do all the gorgeous people get all the good facial expressions?

His face returned to normal as Tsunade continued.

"And depending on how you respond to being together, the experiment will be deemed either successful, or," she held her head from her headache, "a failure."

She paused for a moment to regain herself.

"Overall, it's a fairly simple experiment: you will be isolated from the student body and given more advanced schedules. You must _try_ to get along, or this experiment will be for nothing. Oh," Tsunade stopped. She was debating whether or not to tell us the next part of her sentence, and apparently she was dreading it. She looked at Jiraiya, who held up a finger, and gestured to his expensive-looking cell: a phone call.

She breathed in. "And to explain why we're suddenly moving the Cabinet, as well as hide the experiment, I have come up with a solution."

I raised a brow, awaiting my teacher's answer.

"All of you are going to being collaborating together to create the first ever full-length, three disc Cabinet album."

My jaw dropped. "S-Shishou!"

Naruto managed to tear off the tape off his mouth. "WHAT?"

I looked to see if everyone agreed that three discs, over forty songs, was too much to create in a measly school year, even if summer was included.

Ino didn't seem to care. Then again, she's already released an EP before, unlike Tenten or I. Hinata has too, but judging from her expression, she's not looking forward to creating a full-length album. My fellow EP-less friend's eyes were wide. (10)

Tenten glanced at me and mouthed, 'We're screwed'. I nodded.

(Now, if this were a music video we were talking about, Tenten wouldn't be saying that.)

"Tsunade," Hinata gasped, "A two disc album is trouble enough! But three discs?"

"That's way too much!" Tenten said.

Tsunade looked at us. "Too much?" she leaned towards us over the overhead. "You are the Cabinet. This isn't anything. As song writers, in ten months, forty-five songs is nothing! Especially since you'll be working together most of the time!"

_Yeah. She's expecting a bit much, don't you think? I think so._

"Each one of you has already released at least one single. And I know very well they sold well in their respective categories. What is writing a few more songs? You were chosen to lead our school for a reason," she growled.

Jiraiya cut in. The twosome began whispering to each other.

Taking this opportunity, I took a glimpse at the guys. Naruto was grinning, his arms casually hanging over his friends' chairs. Neji seemed unaffected by the news, and Shikamaru seemed the most bummed out.

Then there was Sasuke. His expression was calm. His black eyes looked back at me.

I looked away, but whispered, "A three disc album, eh? Kinda scary, don't you think?"

He didn't respond at first, but then replied, "I've already released a full-length album. I'm not surprised you're scared."

I blinked, shocked. (Was that him trying to comfort me, or him attempting to insult me for being scared of recording an album?) I decided to ignore that last bit.

But I was genuinely interested in the first part. I looked at him again, and smiled as I whispered, "Wow, really? A full album? What's it called?"

"…" he didn't reply again at first. His eyes were harsh, judging, but I kept up the smile. "…'Crawl'."

"'Crawl'? Can I listen to it?"

He gave me a weird look, but said, "Go ahead."

I felt my smile widen, and I immediately told myself to remember that title. I would have to look it up on YouTube.

Then Tsunade turned to us, and announced, "We're going to have to cut this meeting off at that. We'll continue tomorrow once you've all had a good night's rest in your new dorm. Jiraiya just got a phone call, and they're done renovating." Tsunade took out her own cell phone, and dialed a number written down on the desk.

"And Tsunade-hime is going to call for your things to be moved over. Hopefully you don't have anything nasty laying around in your dorms!" Jiraiya smiled, eying all of us.

Naruto gulped, and muttered, "Shit."

My dorm room flashed before my eyes. There were clothes, shopping bags, and leftover school papers strewn everywhere. We honestly had no idea where anything was. And as much as I would love to keep my personal belongings secret, the thought of moving everything Ino and I owned scared the shit out of me.

Said girl and I looked at each other. Using our, "SUPER AWESOME LOOK ME IN THE EYE MENTAL CONNECTION" (SALE for short. We're planning on having that trademarked one day.), we knew we were both out of luck if we didn't want to clean that room.

We looked away at the same time, and said simultaneously, "Crap."

"But in the meanwhile, we've decided to kick off the summer with a bang for the students staying at SODAS for the vacation, such as you," the man went on, and he presented his yukata, "and though the summer festival shouldn't be held until August, we're holding one anyway! And the main attraction?"

Tsunade hung up the phone. Apparently the deed of moving our stuff has been done. She pointed at us, her drunkenness still a bit obvious despite her being a experienced drinker.

"You. You better get going - we're going to be announcing your moving there, and you don't want to be late to that, hm?"

"What? Really?" I whined. "But it's still early!"

"Who said you're performing later on? The festival for summer vacation starts at noon, and I told the movers to be at your respective dorms at 10:00. It's 8:10 now, so if you have anything to hide, be grateful, because I'm giving you a chance."

Me and my blonde best friend thanked Tsunade mentally with SALE.

"Now, go and get dressed. Meet us at the Rec Area at 10:30, and don't you dare be late." She waved us off, thus dismissing us.

Ino and Naruto took off like rockets. I don't know why Naruto was running so fast, but for Ino, it's because she takes forever to get ready, (I think we already cemented that fact.) especially for a concert.

On the other hand, when it came to concerts, so did I. Pushing my glasses up my nose, I began to sprint after them.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if this is a bit confusing! I wrote this over the course of several weeks, (with major breaks in between) so if something doesn't make sense, just ask.

And for those of you who didn't read the first note, here:

And yes, I changed the title. Before, on my previous account, this story was called SODAS. I reread this story, then the other SODAS, but now that I know what I have planned for this, I realized that these two are almost completely different stories. It almost feels like the authoresses are different too, haha. So I renamed this one… hope you don't mind.

(1) -san:  
A name prefix. It's generally used for someone one doesn't know too well, or as a sign of respect.

(2) Name Meanings:  
Haruno, "Spring Field", Sakura, "Cherry Blossom." If you want the other translations, I may mention them later on. I tried to give the ones that had no last name a surname that said something about the character. (EX: Nakamura, Tenten - Within the Village, Here and There.)

(3) Nii-sama:  
Nii is the term for "older brother". Now this term is not exclusively for one's brother - it can be used for males that are older than you, or for boys/men that you see in a brotherly manner. You can also interchange the name-suffix. Some of the ones I've seen are -chan, or -san. In Hinata's situation, she's using the term for her older cousin, which is also acceptable. She uses the, '-sama' prefix, indicating more respect. This is not the only term for an elder brother. (Note: this term isn't used for men that are significantly older than you.)

(4) Otaku:  
Technically this is a polite way of saying, 'house,' but it's also slang for a nerd who's obsessed with Anime, Manga, or anything related to it.

(5) Hime:  
It means princess. Alone, it just means princess, but with a name, such as Tsunade-hime, it turns into Princess Tsunade. Why Tsunade is called this will be explained sometime later.

(6) Yukata:  
A summer kimono. It's cooler than a regular kimono. Most people in Japan prefer to wear western clothing, and they save their kimono for special occasions. For example, the yukata is usually worn during a summer festival, and definitely not for the dean of a highly prestigious music school to wear casually in his office.

(7) Sensei:  
It means teacher. If you attach it to a name, it's like saying "Mr. Smith" to a teacher, but just, "Smith-sensei".

(8) How the hell does all of that fit on a fan?  
It's in kanji, so it's a lot shorter. It's about two feet long.

(9) The Peninsula, Tokyo:  
It's real. Look it up, it's freaking gorgeous.

(10) Album categories:  
For those of you not familiar with album terms, EP stands for, "Extended Play". Releases that don't contain enough tracks to be considered a full-length album, and are longer than singles are called this… I think, haha.


	4. Chapter Three: First Impressions

Disclaimer: As sexy as that would be, I can't own Naruto. But that, indeed, would be sexy.

A/N: First concert for this fic. I wrote the lyrics to both songs, so don't touch them without permission, please. This is kind of a boring chapter, unless you really get into descrptive passages, which I reccomend when you read. I did need inspiration for both of the songs. You'll get a virtual cookie if you guess my inspiration songs right. ;D I'll probably tell you in the next chapter, but… virtual cookies are delicious.

Please read bottom note! It's very important! But for now, enjoy! If you don't, review, and tell me why!

* * *

Sakura

* * *

"Sakura! Hurry up!" Ino hollered from outside the dorm. "We're going to be late!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Sheesh, you're the one who made me clean up in the first place!"

I came out, dressed casually in black jean shorts, a white off-shoulder long sleeve, a pair of funky laceless Vans, and a baseball cap. I had traded my glasses for contacts. I was holding a large trash bag.

"Now I know how the clean-up ladies feel every week when they come to our room," I grumbled, and shoved the bag into Ino's hands. "You're carrying it."

"What? Ew, no! I know we had some leftover Chinese food in there! You carry it!"

"Just carry it already! C'mon, Shishou will have our heads!"

Ino, using one hand, reached into her purse, and grabbed her cell phone. "We only have ten minutes to get to the Rec area! We might as well walk!"

"No way. The later we are, the more we'll have to suffer under Tsunade AND Tenten. And we would've had more time if YOU would've just helped me clean up instead of fussing over your hair!" I began speed walking down the hall to the elevator.

"Well, sorry! I'm not like you, who just throws a hat on when you want to hide your identity! My hair's my trademark! It has be placed under a wig!"

I said nothing to that - Ino honestly looked beautiful with a black wig. She could seriously pass for a French girl. And with her stylish taste in clothes - a high-rise skirt , a boldly-colored tank top, and heels - no one would suspect otherwise if she said she was a foreigner. The only problem is that she was born and raised here in Japan, and could barely speak English.

We blew out the entrance of the dorms, took a sharp left, and passed some girls on our way out.

"Oh my God, was that Ino-sama?"

"I think it was! And wasn't that Sakura with her? She was wearing a baseball cap!"

_Crap._

"We've been discovered."

Ino huffed, dropping the trash bag into the nearest trash bin as we zoomed by. "Duh. You need to cut your hair, Sakura, your hair's too obvious, even with that hat."

"Damn. Watch, by 12, everyone will know we're putting on a concert, and will come running from wherever they are."

"Don't they always? You gotta love having such loyal fans in our own school."

"You've always had loyal fans in school, Ino, even when you were attending that music school in elementary."

Reaching into her purse, Ino grabbed out a compact. "Yeah, I know! And you gotta love it." She flipped it open, and began touching up her makeup.

How she manages to not trip on her three-inch heels while looking at herself in a mirror and running is a mystery to me.

"It's from practice, forehead. You should try it."

Yeah, definitely my best friend. She read my mind.

"I didn't even say anything!"

"But you were thinking it," Ino commented, before clicking the small mirror shut, and shoving it away in her bag. "You have nice legs! I'll lend you a pair if you want, because I know you only own two pair of heels - one of which are kitten heels, and do not count."

"No thanks, Ino-pig, I'm good."

Blue eyes looked at me. "Why is it that I can get Hinata to wear heels, but not you? It makes no sense."

"Try getting Tenten. If you can get her, you can get me."

Ino sighed. "You say that like I haven't tried. I've been trying ever since we met! She's so stubborn!"

"Well, maybe your determination will pay off one day. Tenten is a girl, and maybe once she actually gets a crush-" I spotted the concert stage in the distance. "Crud! They got the stage up already at the Rec Area! We better hurry."

Without a word, the two of us began to sprint.

* * *

Chapter Three: First Impressions Always Last

* * *

Sasuke

* * *

_Why is it that girls always have some type of perpetual lateness syndrome?_ I asked myself as I stood with the rest of the Cabinet at the crossroad between the Rec Area and the park. _The Hyuuga girl and Bun girl are here, but why not their Chair and the blonde?_

"Sorry we're late!"

I looked up from the ground, and I checked my watch. They were ten minutes late.

Sakura came up from behind the blonde girl, who was holding a black wig for some reason, and placed her hands on her knees, panting slightly. She faced Tsunade with a bow. Her hat almost fell off. "Sorry, Shishou! Getting ready and cleaning up took longer than necessary!"

I eyed her choice in clothes. Unlike her friend, she was covered in small amounts of dust and lint balls. It couldn't have taken that long; she looked like she just threw something on.

Tsunade pursed her thin lips. She loooked fairly pissed. But unlike what I expected, (or at least what Jiraiya kept needlessly warning us about) she simply groaned. "Only because you're my pupil."

At this, I raised a brow. I never heard of Tsunade taking a student personally, much less a girl like Sakura.

"All right, now that you're all here, late or not, let's get at this," Tsunade pointed to the metal stage being prepared and to the festival that was just beginning. "You don't have to be in make up until 11:00, and our wardrobe supervisor still hasn't called with your clothes yet, and God knows how long we're going to have to wait for him. So in the meanwhile, just stay in the park and lay low. Get to know each other. You're dismissed."

The eight of us immediately began to walk to the park.

Naruto quickly went to Sakura's side.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto looked at Ponytail, "What's with the wig, uh… Ino?"

"Yeah, that's me," she said, putting the long-haired wig on. "And it was a disguise up until Sakura made me _sprint_ from the dorms!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, sorry! I didn't want to be thirty minutes late! Luckily Tsunade was in a good mood, or she'd kill me!"

"Why were you late, anyway, Sakura-chan? That obaa-san (1) looked like she was going to eat our asses waiting for you." the blonde whispered. (Or, in Naruto's case, an average person's speaking voice.)

Sakura sighed. "We had to clean our dorm a bit. It was a total pigsty, and since I had to clean it by myself, it took a while." Sakura gave a nervous laugh. "And sorry to had to see her like that. Usually she only looks like that around me or Shizune."

"'Shizune'?" Naruto closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Oh! You mean the one with the pig?"

"Yeah. I'm her student, and she's her personal secretary, so consider yourself blessed to being able to see that look on her face and not be the cause of it."

Ino laughed. "I remember the first time you came back from one of her lessons when you made her angry. You were so freaked out."

"I was fourteen! How was I supposed to know what type of soprano I was?" Sakura looked around with a shrug. "For all I cared, I was an opera singer!"

Even though I doubted the pinkette had the lung capacity for opera, I couldn't help but think why the hell she thought of that, of all things, first.

Naruto and Sakura continued to chat, while the rest of us either stayed quiet, or just listened in on the pair's conversation. We traveled down the small hill from the golden brick path to the grassy park. Once I found a picnic table, I sat myself down, and the others followed, looking bored out of their minds, with the exclusion of Ponytail.

Placing her elbows on the table, Ino looked at me with lowered eyelashes.

"So, Sasuke-kun, if you don't mind me calling you that, tell us, what is your position in the male Cabinet?"

Without looking at her, I ignored her. I wasn't in the mood for idle chitchat.

"Hey, at least answer her," Bun girl said from her seat diagonal from me. "No need to be rude."

"You're the rude one, interrupting someone's conversation," Neji commented calmly.

I watched her eyes flash. "And now you're interrupting, but that doesn't matter now, now does it? Now, Uchiha-san, would you be so kind as to answer my friend's question?"

Despite her plain looks, I mused, Bun girl had an attitude, and an apparent lack of manners.

"I'm the Chairman."

"The Chair, huh?" she didn't respond to the second part of my reply, "That must mean you're fairly talented. What's your main genre?"

I gave her a look. Why was she asking all these questions? She would find out anyway, so what's the point?

"I'm just curious. Besides, Tsunade did say to get to know each other."'

Looking away again, I said, "Whatever."

Ino pouted from the corner of my eye. I could see Sakura look at her, then at me.

Naruto stabbed me with his elbow. "Don't mind him, Ino. He's always been a jerk by nature, even when we were little."

This seemed to catch both girls' attention. Sakura, who was sitting at the edge next to Ino, leaned inward.

"How long have you two known each other?" Sakura asked.

"Since we were seven!" Naruto answered. "It's a long time to know an asshole like Teme!" Naruto draped his arm around me and pulled me into a one-arm hug.

Sakura and Ino giggled a bit, then Ino added as she mimicked Naruto's action with Sakura, "We got you beat. Forehead and I have known each other since we were babies."

Giving a half-smile, Sakura explained, "Sure have. Our moms have been friends since their childhood… and sometimes I regret that." The pink-haired girl teased.

"You're not nice, you know that?"

"I love you too, Ino-pig." Sakura laughed some more. She glanced at Shikamaru and Neji. "But what about all of you guys? How long have you known each other as friends?"

I wouldn't exactly say friends. If anything, we're more like reluctant co-workers, who were forced to work together because our superior is making us do so. And in my case, they're just people who have a similar aptitude for music as I, thus making my job easier than it would be if they weren't in the Cabinet.

Naruto answered for us as well. "Well, I've known Shikamaru since I was five, Teme since I was seven, and I've only known Neji since a few years ago. I'm not sure about them, but that's me." He grinned. "And you guys?"

I could tell the girls knew that we weren't exactly the closest, "friends".

The foursome looked at one another, and they smiled.

"Since middle school. We were in seventh grade when we met Hinata, and in eighth grade when we met Tenten, right you guys?"

"Yeah," Bun girl, Tenten, I guess, said. Her anger was still a bit obvious.

Hinata simply nodded.

"We've been pretty tight friends, and it hasn't changed much, even when we became the female Cabinet."

The blonde next to me brightened. He faced the guys' side of the table, and pointed to Sakura. "Oh, guys, that reminds me, Sakura-chan's the Cha-"

I hit him over the head.

"Shut up Naruto, we all know she's the Chairlady."

Naruto rubbed his head, and placed his finger in his mouth. "Why are you and Sakura-chan so mad at me?"

I looked at her with a raised brow.

"His finger was right in my face, and it's rude to point."

"You can just say he's an idiot, you know."

Naruto glared at me. "Teme."

"Dobe."

"Bastard."

"Moron."

"Ass wipe."

"Dead last."

"Jerk-off."

"Damuassu." (2)

A pause. "Uh… yu faakaa…? Wait, is that right-" (3)

"Okay, that's enough," Tenten cut in, probably fed up with the insults, and the horrible English. "Let's just tell each other what our positions are, since we already know Sakura and Uchiha-san are the Chairs."

This time, Neji replied first. "All right then, Nakamura-san, what is your position." He didn't even make it a question, it was more of a demand.

She glowered at him. "Guard," Tenten bit out, and cocked her head to the side in a challenging manner, "And you, Hyuuga-san?"

"Hm. I don't know how you got the same position as I did, but I am the Guard as well," Neji's eyes opened to look at her for the first time. He tilted his head up a bit. "Nakamura-san."

After a look of surprise, Tenten crossed her arms. Scoffing, she mumbled, "Surprised you even know my name."

"You are the one who announced it, you foolish girl," Neji pointed out.

Ino looked a little mad, but then I noticed Sakura was looking menacingly at Neji, her hand curled into a fist like she was barely holding back her words. It was then I wondered who amongst these three girls had the worst temper.

"And I didn't think you would even bother to listen, with your snobby attitude!" Tenten cried indignantly.

"Says the rudest person here, aside from Naruto-"

Naruto opened his mouth for a comeback, but he was beaten to words.

"Neji-nii-sama, Tenten, please."

I blinked, and realized that the soft voice was coming from the shorter girl next to Tenten. Hinata was silently looking at her family member and Bun girl. Hinata tugged at Tenten's short sleeve.

This shocked the table for a moment. She had barely said a word the entire day. Even Naruto looked at her with wide eyes.

Tenten, surprised again, sighed. Taking a breath, she managed to say calmly, "I'm sorry, Hyuuga-san. Forgive me."

Neji grunted, and Tenten looked livid. Hinata rubbed her back, but completely ignored Neji as she said in her whisper-like voice, "I am the VP, or the Vice. I hope you will take good care of us."

"So you're the Vice? Me too!" Naruto grinned. "I don't know how I got it, though I can see why you got the job! You look smart!"

Hinata's face went red at his compliment. "Oh! T-Thank you."

"Wait, you're the VP? Then that's means," Ino stopped, and pointed at Shikamaru, whose head was resting on his arms, "you, of all people, are the Planner?"

The girl looked like she was about to burst out laughing.

Shikamaru just looked at her, and moaned. "Troublesome. I have to work with you?"

Ino nodded, probably enjoying his pained facial expression. "You sure do, you lazy bum! You barely have an imagination, how did you plan all those field trips last year?"

"The same way you planned those fashions shows."

"Did someone tell you I did that?"

"No, but I kind of figured it was you who coordinated them," he rolled his head to looked at her. "After all, all those shows were themed after flowers."

Ino, a bit taken aback, blushed. "Just because their themes are named after flowers doesn't mean I organized them! It could have been the fashion club!"

Shikamaru just stared at her for long moment, then rolled his face back into his arms.

Afterwards, we were left in silence, the only ones still able to talk and/or wanted to - Sakura and Naruto - were looking at the rest of us awkwardly.

"So," Naruto started.

"Yeah." Sakura continued to look at her friends worriedly.

It stayed in this silence until Naruto spotted Shizune coming down the grassy hill. She seemed to be struggling, her eyes darting all over while trying not to trip down the hill with her heels.

"Shizune! Over here!" he called.

The dark-eyed woman saw us, and walked over. "There you are! Tsunade-sama sent me here to tell you to head over the Rec Area, and to get backstage. The wardrobe supervisor called, and said he's on his way. Not in those words exactly, but he's coming."

* * *

Sakura

* * *

"Your cousin's a total asshole."

"Tenten, please, you've just met him! Once you get to know him, he's not that bad-"

"First impressions always last, Hinata! And my first impression is that he's an ass!"

Hinata sighed, the four of us, once again, walking in a line. And since both Tenten and Ino had the most drama, Hinata and I let them be in the center.

"She's right, Hinata, he was acting like a jerk," I said, "He only treats you well because you're his cousin. And he was treating Tenten like dirt, and he only just met her!"

The black-haired girl placed her hands on her nape and midsection in an elegant fashion. Her navy blue blouse and skirt seemed to add to the effect.

"All right, I admit, he usually doesn't act like that. Abrupt, maybe, but never like that. Please, give him a chance, you guys?" Hinata begged.

Hinata was probably the only person in the world I would never deny if she ever gave her full-blown puppy-pout.

"Fine."

Tenten made a face, but caved. "All right, fine. But if he ever insults me like that again, I won't hold back, okay?"

She smiled. "Deal."

We then turned our attention to Ino, who hadn't said a word ever since we began to follow Shizune from the park and into the Rec Area.

I began by asking her, "Ino? What's up with you and Shikamaru?"

Ino's baby blues looked at us. She was holding her left arm - was she being insecure about something?

"Ino?"

"I didn't think he would remember my favorite flowers."

"How would he know?"

"I've known him just as long as I've known you, Sakura," Ino explained, "But instead of our moms, it's our dads who were childhood friends. Our parents used to lock us in a room every time one of our parents held a party. And since your family rarely made it, I was forced to play with him up until we were ten. After that, I never saw him again, but…" She looked a bit hurt as she trailed off.

"But it's not like the themes were, 'Ino's Favorite Flower, the Rose!', Ino! How did he know those were your favorites?" Tenten inquired.

Her grip tightened on her arm. "I told him when were we little! We had nothing better to do other than talk about nothing because we had nothing in common!" Ino cried. "But when he looked at me just now, it was just… ugh. It was like he was using SALE!"

The three of us gasped. Only us four could use SALE! And it only worked when both parties knew they were using it!

"Are you sure?" I asked.

My friend nodded. "That stare, it just felt like he was telling me, 'I remember'. Argh, this pisses me off!" Ino released her arm, and gripped her fists. "I'm just gonna pretend it never happened! No use worrying over it!"

"Ino, I'm not sure if you should do that…" Hinata said.

"And why not? He probably was thinking, 'You're an idiot,', and I met him on a weekly basis for ten years, so I think I would know what his thinking patterns are!" Ino huffed, and put her hands on her hips triumphantly, as if she just conquered something. "So there!"

Ino always did have a habit of putting off problems as something insignificant. But she did have a bit of a point, so maybe it was just something minor.

But apparently Tenten wasn't convinced. "But the problem is that you haven't talked to him in almost seven years. Can you still say you know him?"

Ino shrugged. "What could happen in seven years? I mean, I haven't changed much since then. And from what I can see, neither has he. Still as lazy and expressionless as always."

I recalled Shikamaru's face when he saw Jiraiya's fan - hurt and surprise. Those were expressions, weren't they?

"Maybe something did happen," Hinata was making a face. "And maybe it just doesn't show?"

She didn't buy it. Nevertheless, she smiled, and stretched. "Anyway, let's get off the doom and gloom train! We have a show to put on in an hour, and Tsunade still hasn't told us our song line up."

We quietly decided to end it at that.

Once we made into the actual festival, I couldn't help but smile. I loved festivals and carnivals. Maybe it was the food or the games, but it was just fun to be there in such a great atmosphere. The sky was blue, white clouds were floating overhead, and the breeze was just right for a festival.

There were a few students buzzing about, and many of them stopped and stared. The girls were whispering with smiles on their faces, their eyes admiring Shikamaru, Neji, Naruto, and Sasuke, who were ahead about ten paces. They were walking in a two by two block, making it real easy to ogle them if you were standing on the sidelines. There were also boys, who I completely refused to look at.

Eye contact meant instant death.

_Instant_.

And me and my girls knew that very well.

But as we came up to the yakitori stand, I came to a conclusion: I loved festival food even more than the atmosphere and games, and that I was starving. (4)

I eyed the stand, but then I remembered I didn't have money - I spent it all last night trying to get into the dance.

"Damnit, I'm hungry. All I ate was that cereal bar and some Pocky sticks this morning!"

"Yeah, me too. Want something?" Ino gestured to the stands. "I got some leftover cash, although we'll only be able to get a stick of dango." (5)

I wanted meat… even though I do love sweets. A lot.

(Am I near my period or something?)

"Nah, it's fine. I'll get something from the backstage snack table."

So Ino went off to the dango stand, causing us to stop.

As I sulked, I saw Sasuke break off from his block, and over to the yakitori stand. The boys also came to a stop. He was about to break out his wallet, but the girl behind the counter shook her head and giggled. Sasuke turned to return back to his friends, with two skewers in hand.

I have never seen a more godly figure. (A hot guy with two steaming sticks of juicy, BBQ chicken. Oh yeah, godly was the right word.)

He didn't move though. I guess he caught me staring. I blushed, and quickly averted my eyes, but hell, I was hungry, so my eyes were magnetically drawn back.

Next thing I knew, a skewer of juicy, BBQ chicken was right in front of me. My eyes went to Sasuke, who was holding it out silently.

For a second, I couldn't move. Was he really offering me yakitori? I'm not daydreaming from lack of food?

My heart skipped a beat. With my cheeks' red color clashing with my hair's, I took the skewer from his hand, and our fingers brushed lightly. Once it was safely in my hand, he made even strides back to his Cabinet.

"Uh," I stopped. Why didn't thank him when he gave it to me? "Thank you!" I called out.

He made no motion that said he heard me, but I think he did. I smiled to myself and took a nibble of the chicken, and holy shit, was it good. The Uchiha Sasuke just gave me the best yakitori ever.

Tenten laughed.

"What?" I took a entire bite of chicken.

"It's your face! You look so love struck!"

"Who looks love struck?"

Ino came up from behind us, munching on a stick of dango. When she noticed my yakitori, she asked, "How'd you get that? Did a fan get it for you?"

"Nope, Uchiha-san gave it to her." Tenten's eyes grinned. "You should have seen her face, it was so cute!"

I quickly chewed and swallowed, then defended, "It was only because he noticed me staring at it!"

"You lucky dog!" Ino punched my shoulder. We began walking again. "Why didn't he get me one, dang it?"

"Well, you got dango!"

"So? THE Uchiha Sasuke gave you something. In public! I can't believe I'm saying this, but he may have a thing for you!"

I gulped down my hope of that being true with a bite of chicken. "Just because he gave me yakitori?"

"Sakura. Can you not feel the jealously all around you?"

I went on munching as I looked around.

True. There were several people either staring or glaring at me. Very true, the emotion was rolling off of them in waves.

"Watch, by the end of this week, you and Sasuke are gonna be headlining the school magazine. I guarantee it!"

I shook my head. "Wouldn't the journalism class AND club be out on break? I doubt they would want to stay just for something like that."

"You doubt the power of the paparazzi, Forehead. You're also forgetting how popular we are. Remember last year?"

"Yeah, you better be careful what happens, Sakura," Hinata chipped in, "We don't want that happening again."

I puckered my lips in irritation. I didn't want to be reminded of last year's fiasco. "Let it come as it may. I'm not gonna let a stupid magazine and its journalists get to us, and stress us out. Let's just worry about this gig first, and hope Tsunade doesn't give us one of our newer songs."

"Exactly. After all those finals, I can't even remember the tempo to, 'Good Morning Beautiful Day' sometimes."

"But Tenten," Ino's face was joking, "That's one of our easiest songs. Now that I think about it, it is our easiest song! It was like, the first one we made, right?"

"Yeah. It's been so long, that it hurts think about it. Forget our newer, untitled ones, you know the audience is gonna want an encore of older songs. And that one was a hit with the elementary schoolers." Tenten face was stricken with the horrible memories we made at a concert at the elementary school branch.. "We played that song seven times. SEVEN."

"I know, right? I swear, I was playing the chord in my sleep that night!" Ino laughed, and Hinata chuckled.

As we approached the stage, I tilted my hat a bit to get a better look at Sasuke. I didn't tell Ino that I had found one of Sasuke's tracks on YouTube from my phone, and had listened to it as I was cleaning the dorm. I had to use my headphones so she wouldn't hear it.

I don't think she knows how enticing his voice is to me, a person who solely specializes in singing rather than in every instrument known to man. His soft, low, and hypnotic voice was still echoing in my head like the sound of a metronome after a long, hard lesson of piano. Even though the video I found had horrible quality, his voice hit something in my brain that sent shivers everywhere in my upper-body, even if the song was mostly him just screaming rather than singing.

The lyrics were sung with heart, albeit Sasuke didn't look like the type to express it well. It sounded angry, regardless of the bad audio - possibly hateful and revengeful. Then again, maybe I shouldn't even be assuming this, seeing as I could barely make out the majority of said lyrics and emotions. I had to hear him sing _live_, even if it cost me one little article containing a bunch of BS that he likes me… or that I like him. (Which, then it wouldn't really be BS at all.)

Snap, snap.

"Oi, Sakura-san! What are you doing, just standing around? Go get dressed!"

I was taken out of my reverie. A woman with a headset on was standing in front of me, with her finger still lingering before my face. Her shirt read, "STAFF". I nodded, and marched off.

I passed a couple rushing backstage workers, when I spotted our wardrobe supervisor: Maito Gai. (Or is it Might Guy? He never tells you straight-out what his name is spelled with: hiragana? Katakana? I've known him ever since last year, and I still can't get it out of him!) (6) Around him, the others were holding hangers of clothes.

"Ah! What wonderful, beautiful, and very timely timing! There she is!" Suddenly, Guy was all over me, taking measurements. He didn't stay in one spot for too long, but I was tempted to punch the living daylights out of him by the time he finished taking the major three measurements. (7) He wrote down the numbers on his palm - _You show those to anyone, I will kill you._ - gave me a once-over, and then went to the clothing rack right next to us. And almost like magic, he pulled out an outfit and handed it to me.

It was simple and cute, and it looked like it would fit me like a glove. I liked it.

Then I looked at what he was wearing, and wondered where his sense of fashion went when it came to himself. I mean, a green turtleneck, a matching green running jacket, orange sweats, and an orange scarf? I could feel Ino cringing from where I stood.

"The joyous days of your summer! Live them out! You only experience these youthful days once, young ones!" Gai exclaimed. "And to represent the beginning of your eleventh summer from school, the colors orange-pink of a summer sunrise, and gold, the color of the always shining, blissfully happy sun! Now go! The make-up team is waiting!"

* * *

Tenten, Hinata, and Ino got yellowish-like outfits, except for me. I ended up with the peach-orange-hybrid-like color. I can't really complain though: the outfit itself looked pretty darn good. It was just a regular, white summer halter dress with a ribbon of previously mentioned hybrid color. Simple, cute, and it could be considered pretty on the right person. (Not really me, so to say, but it was definitely possible.)

I stepped out of the dressing room, and twirled. I was rocking my new white Converse, and life was good.

Hinata was outside, sitting patiently for everyone to come out. She gave me a smile. She was clad in a crème-colored version of the top I had been wearing a little earlier, and white jeans. Meanwhile, I heard the following:

"Hyuuga Neji, if T.H.I.S. gets a louder applause than CURSED does after this concert, then you have to apologize to both Hinata and I for all the rude things you said, and refused to say sorry for in the first place! And all four of you have to do whatever we want for the rest of the day!"

"Okay, I'm scared, what is Tenten talking about, and why is she using her competition voice?" I asked, my eyes shut. Hinata's nervous laugh didn't sound positive.

"Well, let's just say my cousin indirectly insulted Tenten again, so now she's dragging all of us into a competition with the boys and is making Shizune judge the amount of applause. Hopefully my cousin has some sense-"

"And if you lose, it works the other way around. I accept your challenge, Nakamura Tenten."

Her sigh silently said, "They're both idiots."

"All righty, then. Let's not waste any time then, shall we, Hyuuga-san?" Tenten emphasized her every word.

Ino then began to mock cry as she exited one of the other dressing rooms. "This is the first time I've ever heard one of my babies so serious over a guy. Even if it's the wrong type of serious, I'm so happy!"

(She considered Hinata, Tenten, and I to be her babies, I guess?)

I was beginning to see the pattern Gai had made for us. The guys were wearing the pinkish-orange and black, excluding Sasuke, who had gold. The girls had gold and white, but not me. Everyone's face look clean and bright, even Shikamaru's. Oh, the miracles of, "summer-glow" make-up.

I touched my face, the feeling of make-up product still fresh. They didn't use much, so I'm grateful for that. I just had to make sure it was real, and that the girl I saw in the mirror a minute ago was really me. I always do this - I suppose it's to make sure I really deserve all this attention, fame, and slight pampering. I still haven't convinced myself that this was all earned through my own earnest work. I've touched my face like this hundreds of times over the course of last year, but this was a small exception, because right now, the make-up was making me feel pretty enough to share the stage with him.

I turned around, and looked at where Tenten, white cargo pants and all, was staring defiantly up at Neji. Naruto gave me a bright grin and waved, ("We won't lose!") but my eyes centered on Sasuke. He looked my way, and sent a small smirk.

'_Wanna fight? Come and get me.'_

I felt my own half-smile creeping up, and I whispered, "Bring it on, Chair boy, bring it on."

Hinata's second sigh never reached my ears.

(Sigh translation: Crud, why me?)

* * *

"Hey everyone! It's the first day of summer vacation, how do you feel?"

The roaring cry of the audience. There were no words to describe how they felt - they were going to see their idols in less than a minute. So they just screamed, yelled, hollered, or whatever best fit their excitement right then when they were asked by this disembodied voice coming from the huge speakers. The loud voices and the speakers will probably leave everyone there deaf tomorrow, but who cares?

They were going to see their school's idols. And so are you.

You're a freshmen, or at least you're going to be. You and your best friend managed to sneak in with the other students, curious to what this secretive, and high-security school looked like from the inside. You never realized how big this school was until you found yourself in what everyone was calling the Rec Area. It's extremely crowded, and it was like hiding the train during commute time. You have no idea where your best friend went, but suddenly, you don't care, because your eyes are stuck to the giant screen showing the stage. There, you see eight teens, only a year or two older than you, and they are dazzling. They're simply standing there, but they're at ease, like they belong there.

The booming speakers tell you they are this school's beloved Cabinet, and that they were going to do a concert just for you. They tell you that CURSED will be up first. An intro song was played, probably an example of one of their songs. The four white figures on the TV leave, and it's just the ones in black.

Each one is quite good-looking in his own way, and judging from the difference in outfit colors, you can tell which one is the supposed leader of this bunch. The camera is directed solely at him, with his high-collared jacket, gold graphic tee underneath, and dark gray and black plaid shorts. He was dressed like any other guy, but on that stage so far in the distance you needed a monitor to watch, he was like a shiny vampire at a vampire book enthusiast convention: the desired, and the godly.

"This first song is, 'Brother'." His words were strangely smooth, even if it was just his regular speaking tone. Several people around you go nuts.

Before you know it, the hum of a bass blew from the speakers. The growl of a guitar intertwined with it. The beat of a drum began to control your heartbeat, and then, that smooth voice, deep, controlled, and powerful, grabbed you, and took you on a journey with one line alone: "_I trusted you, gave you something I can never get_," a pause, "_back_!"

You always thought you were a good musician, but as you watch the passion on the singer's face (he's absolutely stunning, even to you) you feel like you just went from, 'Good Musician' to, 'Barely a Musician' at this school.

The three other guys instantly began to play their part, causing a wave of lyric-less music to flood you.

"_Are you happy now?  
__Are you happy now,  
__That I can never see you,  
__Smile the same again?_"

The lovely voice screamed.

"_Are you happy? Are you happy?_"

The guitar roared to the front. His face was completely calm, but he was gripping the neck of his guitar like it was life itself. You could see his vein popping out of his pale skin. You would be laughing - especially since his hair makes him look like a girl - but then the girl next to you screams, "I LOVE YOU NEJI!" and you suddenly don't think it would be appreciated.

"_Knowing that I'm suffering!  
__How dare you come back to us!  
__Go back to where you belong!_"

The people around are beginning to sing along. The song becoming more and more powerful than it was with just the singer's vocals alone. It was dragging you, pushing you, letting you drift as the lyrics rolled on about distrust, - "_Not with us, keep away from there!_" - hurt, - "_Why is it always about you?_" - hate, - "_Why can't you just wither away?_" - and regret - "_No words are left here for you._"

The bass lets out a mighty roll of its own, and the two string instruments go at it on stage. You honestly wondered who would win between the two: the guitarist, who held himself upright, proper, gave off the aura of a knight, and his blank eyes conveyed no dishonesty, or the bassist, whose roguishly handsome looks, sharp, black eyes, and his hair spiking out of its band had an another level of power.

The voice returned back to some sort of calm as he sang again. He held onto the mic with both hands.

"_Am I truly beloved?  
__Like you keep telling me?  
__Or are they just your lies?  
__AGAIN_?

_Are you happy now?  
__Are you happy now,  
__That I can never see you,  
__Smile the same again?  
__Are you happy?  
__Are you happy?_"

A brief silence, where all players ceased to play. Then the crowd screamed with the black-haired teen, "_WELL, I'M NOT HAPPY._" The music quickly returned like it hadn't left. You can feel your heart thumping strongly in your chest.

This band was amazing. The way the strings communicated, the vocalist's timing and emotional rampage, the drummer's - Oh! The drums! - thunderous beat controlling the way your body's heart kept you alive. His endless blue sky eyes were glowing with a rebellious ring, and he showed that in his drumming.

Was it the audience too? What else was keeping you rooted to that spot instead of looking for your best friend?

"_Make him open up his eyes!  
__Make him see what didn't,  
__Before you screwed up,  
__Messed up, blackened,  
__MY HEAD!_"

An instrumental tore out of the speakers, and you mentally thank your rich parents for getting you into this school. Music is really just a hobby for you, but after seeing the fire in these guys' music, you're ready to write some notes down, get some lyrics, and just play. Hell, you couldn't understand half the screaming, and yet you're so pumped up! With a short drum solo, the lyrics come on.

"_Why must I live to suffer this?  
__Why didn't I see the signs back then?  
__You know I'm dying a bit inside!  
__I'm not going to be what you tell me to!  
__I'm going to live_!"

You could hear names being called out as their faces were filmed by an unseen camera: Naruto. Sasuke. Neji. Shikamaru.

"_Are you happy now?  
__Are you happy now,  
__That I can never see you,  
__Smile the same again?  
__Are you happy?  
__Are you happy?_"

A mixture of Sasuke's emotional yell, the speed of Neji's guitar, the strength of Shikamaru's bass, and Naruto's life-giving drumming exploded into a climax, then died down into nothing, counting off the sounds one by one. Naruto crossed his drumsticks, and ceased to play. Neji held down his string to prevent anymore roaring. You find yourself closing your eyes like the others around you.

"_Sometimes I wish to go back there, to when my feelings for you weren't this_," caressed your ear. It was so soft, like a feather touch on top of a bunch of mangled limbs that made up the rest of the song. "_I hope you're happy about that._"

And like it had carried you out, the sound of a bass's hum lifted you back in.

It was then you open your eyes, and you immediately think, _Did I just get high off a song? Really?_

The leader, Sasuke you assume, completely calm like the rest of them were, spoke into the mic. "This next song is from my album, 'Crawl', on sale now. It's called, 'Fighting'."

And with a few more hits of Naruto's drumsticks, the drums started their ascent, and you totally forget about looking around the school.

* * *

Sakura

* * *

The girls and I were speechless. None of us had ever heard CURSED play before, so it was a first for all of us, even Hinata. Apparently Neji was very discreet about his playing, and according to Ino, she had no idea Shikamaru could even play.

Nevertheless, Ino was still the first one to speak after their third song ended. "Holy cow."

The ear-splitting cheers from the crowd were almost unbearable. It was very loud.

"It's like… a never-ending cycle of, 'I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,'" Tenten said dryly. "Complete opposite of ours, and yet they still get so much cheering. I don't get it."

"You just don't want to be Neji's slave for the rest of the day," Hinata hummed. Her eyes didn't shift from watching the boys. Tenten gave the sitting girl a glare. "It's obvious that they each have their own personal style, but it seems negative emotions are the only things that they seem to click with as a band. It's a bit disappointing that they can't reach out to other types of music, but it works well with their rock/screamo/metal genre."

"I guess not everyone can be like us. I mean, we've sung just about everything we can: rock, alternative, pop, hip-hop, R&B, country," Ino shivered a bit, "folk," again, "and we even tried our hand on techno once, and honestly, I don't think that went over well."

I frowned. "Hey, I liked that song. The beat was catchy."

"All techno songs' beats are catchy. It's because they have the same one! Bump, bump, bump, bump, bump-" she imitated.

We chuckled.

"Anyway, Uchiha-san can sing well," Hinata commented, her lavenders glancing at me. "Don't you think so, Sakura?"

I forced down from air left in my throat. I snatched the water bottle I had stolen from the snack bar, and took a sip.

"He does sing well. I don't mind screamo myself, and I know it takes a certain voice to be able to do it so it sounds good, but I think it would be better if he just sang an entire song for once."

As the guys finished cleaning up their stuff from the stage, the foursome walked back stage. They were sweating profusely, and they all had a white towel in hand.

Neji and Tenten shared a single glance, then nothing; it was obvious both were determined to win. Shikamaru went for a chair, and Naruto, still wiping sweat off of himself, asked me, "So, whatcha think?"

"About your band? Your songs? I think they good! The first one seemed like you actually had a brother you hated that much."

"Well, yeah, but I meant what did you think about my drumming?" he asked, suddenly a bit shy.

Oh. That took me a bit off guard. To be honest, I wasn't paying attention to it. I was really just listening to Sasuke…

Not wanting to offend him and his awaiting face, I said, "Um, it was really good! I liked it. Didn't you, Hinata?"

Hinata's face went bright red when Naruto looked at her. She tripped over her words, but she got out, "It was great! It was the heart of all three of your songs! I really liked the intro to 'Fighting'. Steady, but catchy, and that's hard to do sometimes. You put your heart into it, and," she went red, and her voice softened as she smiled, "it makes a difference."

It was obvious which one of us was actually listening to his drums, and which one wasn't. But from the look on his face, it was clear which one he preferred.

I then looked over at Sasuke. He wiped his face with his towel, and when he noticed me looking, he simply stared back.

My face went red. _My God, he has the prettiest eye color I have ever seen._

I averted my eyes, only to meet Ino's. Though, we said nothing, both our body postures did. Her body was like, "Girl, I know you're hiding something. Cough it up." And when she was wearing white slacks that showed off how freakishly long her legs were, and the yellow displaying her D-cups? It went from that, to, "Hmm, Girl, you better tell me what the hell you're hiding, or your Anime-loving butt is mine." And my body, with my tiny chest, average hips, and pretty little dress says, "No, that's okay! I'll just run away and hide in my shell now where I can protect my Anime."

I whistled a tune innocently, and decided to stare at my new shoes.

After about five minutes, intermission was over, and the announcer returned.

"That was CURSED, everybody!" Scream and cheers. "But now that the boys are done, it's time for the girls! Give it up for," Hinata stood up, and both Tenten and Ino snapped to attention. "T.H.I.S.!"

One of our older songs, 'Your Kiss," blared from the speakers as an intro, and we all took it as our cue to run onto the stage.

"_I just can't forget,  
__all these times that we shared."_

The moment we were in sight, the people went crazy. As I reached the microphone, I grasped it with both hands before using one of them to touch my face again.

My voice came from the speaker system.

"_And I don't think,  
__I could ever forget the way,  
__You gave me this high,  
__When you held me so close,  
__And I tasted your kiss."_

I looked over to the sidelines, and looked at the guys who were watching us. I gave Sasuke a small smirk, and thought, _Yeah. I'm here. And just watch, Uchiha, I'm gonna rock your world._

"_I'm yours!  
__(I won't forget.)"_

I grabbed the mic from its stand, and hollered, "Hey guys! How's everyone doin'?" They gave a tidal wave of cheers. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm not asking you this on the first day of school! I'm asking you, how are you guys doin' on the first day of summer vacation?" This time, I was almost certain I lost all hearing in my right ear. "That's more like it! Who's ready for some music?"

Their answer was definite. So remembering the first song from our line-up, I smiled. It was one of my favorites that me and the band had written together. A mix of folk, rock, and the lyrics told a story just like country did. The soft rumbling of the audience spiked when I announced, "Great! Our first song will be from our EP! 'Seasons', everybody!"

A moment after I finished, Tenten began creating the beat. I held the mic to my mid-section, and waited for my turn. Hinata, using her keyboard, added in her surreal effects, and around the eighth count, Ino jumped in with a mellow chord.

One. (I closed my eyes.)

Two. (I took a breath in.)

Three. (What was the first line again?)

Four. (Oh yes, I got it.)

Gripping the device, the first words to the song flew out like water.

"_Hello my dear, how are you doing now? I'm good, I'm good," _I reached out the audience, and they reached out as well. _"But I think it's time we had a little talk."_

"_It was the beginning of the summer days,  
__When I first thought of you.  
__So bright, the light, the flower you would draw,  
__Flower of the sun, I thought of you."_

I spotted a few shocked faces in the crowd. I don't know why but my singing voice always did have that effect. My returning fans weren't so surprised.

"_I held it gently in my hands,  
__And hugged the light until I cried."_

Tenten's drums. Ino's guitar. Six counts.

_Remember, Sakura! Feel the emotion! Longing, sadness, hope!_

I reached out to the people as I let out the chorus I had worked so hard on with the others.

"_The flood gate opened, and it's all coming back.  
__The words, the dreams, the way you made me feel.  
__The night you left, the lightning storm.  
__I loved you way too much."_

The lyrics were simple, easy to understand, but powerful enough to be able to give you some type of message in the end. I stood back up. I paused, and closed my eyes to finish the chorus.

"_The gems inside your eyes,  
__Will I ever see them again?  
__Will I ever see it again?"_

The people, who spanned the entire Rec Area, mobbed the festival a few hundred yards away. No matter how many time I performed like this, I still couldn't believe so many people would actually come. I made a quick glance to the side, then swiftly looked back at the fans. But there was no time to think about that. After Hinata finished, it was me again.

* * *

Sasuke

* * *

"_A year went by, and it was still hard to feel.  
__Autumn leaves, your favorite time of year.  
__Freshly colored Maple leaf, golden and red,  
__You'd come just to see them die."_

I felt my jaw slack slightly. Maybe it was just the speaker system. There was no way that anyone could have voice like this, and only take breaths every two or three lines for these lyrics. It wasn't possible.

"_A laugh that doesn't mean a thing -  
__Dear God, I wondered if you'd have been there._

_The mirror doesn't show me anything more,  
__Than the fears of a broken girl."_

There were no words to describe her voice. It was light, it was low, it was smooth, it's emotional, dynamic, powerful; it was perfectly down the middle when it came to types of singing voices, and her range was incredible. I didn't even think this type of voice was possible! And the tempo made some of those lyrics very hard to work with, and yet she was singing them like her lung capacity was that of a professional free-diver.

I could sense Naruto's smug smile, and it was bugging me to no end. As she began to sing the chorus again, he snickered.

"Now you see why I'm such a big fan, don't you, Teme?" he nudged me. "She's pretty awesome."

I looked at him, then back at her. Awesome didn't even begin to describe it.

"_Winter brought about the coldest times to share.  
__Bringing sadness, pain, and a little despair.  
__Christmas morning, and a small candle's glow,  
__I slowly saw the moments I took for granted's form._

_The time of mourning, with your family,  
__The ones you loved as much as I,  
__By then, it was almost over.  
__I finally realized that I was not alone."_

I noticed Tsunade talking to one of the stage hands, and I recalled some of thing I've learned about her from others. Not only was she a very successful doctor before she took on SODAS as her own, Fujimiya Tsunade was known for having sold almost a billion copies of her CD, "For You All: A Jewel" and for her hit single, "For You Only" staying in the top ten for almost four consecutive years. Back in her day, before she was forced to retire due to some traumatic occurrences, she was called the, "Princess of Jewels", not only because her family founded SODAS and was filthy rich, but because she like a living jewel: strong, worth a lot, and 'nice to look at'. Her voice was considered a treasure. Now, almost thirty years later, due to smoking, drinking, and losing the will to sing at all, no one has ever heard Tsunade sing again. And people, when she's mentioned, always say her CD never compared to her being live.

Is this why Tsunade took Sakura on personally? To nurture this talent because it was like her own?

Sakura sung the chorus again. I noted she was very good with the crowd, constantly doing something to make sure they were entertained, whether it be from her facial expression, or from interacting with her instrument-playing friends.

"_Healing came and passed, Like a gentle drop of rain. Years of sadness, regret, and pain, Have already erased," _came from her like a stream of water. Sakura, despite being only sixteen, made it sound like she had experienced all of this herself. I was actually a bit shocked to see the crowd liked it. But she kept filling the song with emotion, and her band mates kept playing.

"_How many years have I lost you now?  
__I don't really know."_

It was then Ino and Hinata broke in, and the two began a duet between piano and guitar. Overall, the music was a sad, mellow, but fairly moving tune. It brightened, and declined with the supposed, 'storyline' the lyrics were creating, but I was sure it would make a fine instrumental. Sakura came back in then, her voice giving words to the music again.

"_Hello, darling,  
__I hope you're doing well.  
__I think it's time I showed you,  
__What I really came here for.  
__It's been so many years,  
__I know, but I need to tell you,  
__What's been hanging on my mind."_

She took a breath in, as if to pause to think like the person in the song would. I saw Ino move to her own microphone. _"You were the light of my life," _Ino then echoed, _"(The candle in the dark). (And you'll always be the brightest star,) (In the sky when I look up)."_

"_Only you made me feel the way I did,  
__You will always be irreplaceable,  
__Like the season you left through." _

Her green eyes were literally shining with tears.

"_But I have to tell you now."_

"_Spring time is when I met him. The twinkling eyes, and flustered smiles, Reminded me of you. I think he's why I finally let go of you," _her voice cracked a bit at the end from her crying. But immediately afterwards, she fixed the problem, and her voice was back to being steady. _"I can see them waiting for me in the, Parking lot. But just this once, I'll let the tears fall down my face."_

"_But as I stand before you," _Sakura gestured out into the distance, _"At your last resting place, I'll let myself remember, Why I loved you in the first place."_

"_The flood gate opened, and it's all coming back.  
__The words, the dreams, the way you made me feel.  
__The night you left, the lightning storm.  
__I loved you way too much._

_The flood gate opened, and it's all coming back.  
__The words, the dreams, the way you made me feel.  
__The night you left, the lightning storm.  
__I loved you way too much.  
__The gems inside your eyes,  
__I will never see them shining in your eyes again."_

The music became more powerful, like a suddenly down pour of rain on a spring day. I swear, just about every girl in the audience, excluding the few who were only there for CURSED's performance, was in tears.

Then, quietly, Tenten's drumming slowed to a stop, and Ino's constant strumming fell to a pluck every so often. The only one still playing like before was Hinata. I was reminded of a rainbow right after the showers, with the new, light and airy piece she was playing.

Sakura held the mic close, and stared into the mass of people as she sang last few lyrics.

"_But if you can forgive me,  
__I'll see them shining in theirs instead."_

* * *

"That was THIS! Now, School of Dance and Song, give them what they need to hear!"

Hundreds of people clapped, whistled, and yelled. From the sidelines, the pink-haired girls' blush was evident. She didn't seem tired from singing three songs, but the heat was getting to her.

"And let's not forget the male Cabinet! Give some love to CURSED!"

We walked onto stage, waving at the fans. We took our place next to the female Cabinet, and awaited Tsunade to come on stage.

"I LOVE YOU SASUKE-KUN! HAVE MY BABIES!"

…and there was one of the girls I swore I got a restraining order on.

Shikamaru coughed, and whispered, "Didn't you get a restraining order on this one?"

I inhaled through my nose and exhaled slowly through the mouth. I shut my eyes, slightly irritated.

"Yes."

"It's okay, Uchiha-san," Sakura said without looking away from the audience, "We all have at least one crazy one."

"YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL, SAKURA-SAN!"

A loud holler came from the other side of Shikamaru on stage. "OI, YOU CAN LOOK, BUT NO COMPLIMENTING. THAT'S MY JOB. YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL, BY THE WAY, SAKURA-CHAN."

Sakura copied my breathing. "Yup. At least one." Ino was desperately trying to hold back her laughter next to the pinkette.

Tenten looked around anxiously. Shizune was waving frantically, and spelling, "SIMILAR" in the air. (8) In other words, our bands tied because the audience's amount of noise was similar. There was a mixed reaction amongst us, ranging from sighs of relief, to low curses.

It was then Tsunade made her appearance in between Sakura and I. She rose up from the stage floor, a mic already set up on her suit jacket. Fog came up from the depths. Most of the teens, once they saw her, immediately turn-tail to run out of the area.

"Good afternoon, students. Before you leave to go enjoy the festival and your other activities, I have a very large announcement to make, concerning the Cabinet." Her words must have made at least thirty people stop moving. Once she had just about everyone's faces looking at her, she went on. "The Cabinet will no longer be staying in the same dorms as the rest of the student body."

This caused whispers to roar like wildfire.

"The members of the Cabinet are hereby separated from the student body. This also includes classes, senior projects, graduation projects, and the majority of club memberships."

Not only were the students getting slightly louder and a bit riled up, everyone on stage was surprised.

"Shishou, you never mentioned at the meeting we have to quit our clubs!" Sakura whispered in a panicked tone. "I'm a Book Club member, and they give free discounts! They're really convenient!"

Tsunade ignored her. "They are now their own special class. But, there is indeed something for all of you Cabinet fans to look forward to by the end of this school year. For the first time ever, the Cabinet will be releasing a three-disc collaboration! And if act now, and pre-order this wonderful project, you can save one thousand yen!" (9) At this, the misery that we were no longer going to be their classmates was erased, and replaced with excited and loud talking. Tsunade gestured to the side of the stage, and said, "Please form an orderly line at the table, and be sure to write your name, grade, and main genre!"

_So that's what she was talking to that stagehand about._

The entire crowd split, the majority of them going to the table at the side of the stage, while the rest stood there dumbly. It was like watching the Red Sea part before Moses and his people.

Tsunade ran off without saying anything, so we decided it was all right for us to leave. I checked my watch - 12:43PM.

Sakura sighed. "I guess we're not getting out of making that album now."

Not like I was even trying to get out.

But this made me curious: why in the world didn't this girl have a full-length album for herself? With a voice like hers, she could be the next Tsunade.

We filed off the stage, and dressed ourselves back into our normal, unsweaty clothes. And even if we could keep the outfits, there was no way I wear wearing a gold t-shirt all day with the words, "LOVE" on front, and, "PINK" on the back. (I was about ready to kill Gai for having the nerve to give me a woman's shirt, much more so when it saw the label: Victoria's Secret. He will die when I see him next.) Luckily it was hidden by the jacket I was wearing.

The festival went relatively well (seeing as all the rabid fans were standing in line for our CD that hasn't even been released yet). I ended up standing on the sidelines, waiting for everyone else to finish their business with Neji and Shikamaru after an hour or so.

It was around the time the CD line was about halfway done that Naruto and the girls returned. Under the shade of the tree we were waiting under, Sakura showed us her cell phone.

"Tsunade texted me. I can't even say it, look."

It took me a moment to overlook the glare on her iPhone's screen. Its case had a small toy on it, making me think it was definitely a girl's phone.

" 'Forgot to mention, the Cabinet has a summer meeting tomorrow. Casual. Meet in my room. Enjoy your new dorm. -Tsunade the Rich'," Shikamaru read.

"And when she says, 'summer meeting,' it's more like," Sakura explained, her face grim, "Summer Tour. We will not have time for summer break."

* * *

Somewhere deep inside the school, doors opened with a silent _swoosh_.

The password hadn't changed since he last came to this place. A little disappointing, but it made his mission all the easier. He took a few steps into the large, overly spacious room before the doors shut behind him. All light vanished except for the one that featured a single touch screen computer.

The figure quickly removed the suffocating latex mask on his face. He'd been wearing it since he entered this damned school hours ago. He reached into his pocket, and pushed a pair of glasses onto his face.

Now being able to see properly, he quickly made his way to the device. On the screen, it read, "**SCHOOL OF DANCE AND SONG. MAIN DATABASE**."

The same welcome message. Did the fools really not change the system after it was hacked?

Deciding to find out, he pulled out a pair of gloved, and put them on. With a single tap from his covered finger, the screen changed.

**Access Code?**

He quickly typed in the code from his memory - it may have been a few years, but it was still humming around in his mind like someone just whispered it to him. It was accepted.

_What idiots,_ he thought, _do they honestly believe that no one can hurt them students just because they have a security system?_

**What would you like to view?**

There were six choices - Student, Cabinet, Staff, Alumni, Records, and Other. He hit Cabinet.

**Please enter secondary code.**

Now, _this_ is where he had to get tricky. If the password he decoded was correct, he would be able to get the info he needed. If not, he would have to hack into it, and using his cell phone to hack would not be pleasing, nor would it guarantee a full cover-up once he was done.

The moment he pressed enter, a smile came to his dry lips.

_Orochimaru-sama will be pleased._

* * *

A/N: Very long for my standards. VERY. And I know, this update was quick. I actually wrote some of this out before I even got chapter two done, so let's just say I cheated a bit.

Anyway, I just feel the need to say this, even though no one has really complained about it to me. This story has always been mine. The idea of SODAS, the character's positions, everything. If you look under the name, Ukeire, you will see the earlier version of my story, when I was still new to the fan fiction world. I'm no longer active on that account, and _SODAS_ has been discontinued. But because certain things occurred, I can no longer say that I am Ukeire. I'm now. I have grown as a person, and as a writer, and hence my new account.

You're probably wondering now, "Why didn't you say anything on Ukeire's profile? Don't you think people will think you're copying Ukeire if you don't say anything on there?" And honestly, the reason why I didn't say anything on that account is that it's became a reminder/a kick in the ass, telling me, "You idiot, look what you left! See how you used to write? See how many people you let down after such a long absence?"

But now I think just the account's presence on the site will keep my butt in check for a while. (Even if it's against ffn's rules. Oops? Then again, I don't even know if it is against the rules… hopefully not.) So, yeah, I have finally come clean about this.

Spiel done. You guys can flame me now.

(1) Obaa-san:  
A term used for your grandmother, a figure you see as a grandmother, or just an insult in Tsunade's case. The honorific is interchangeable: I've seen -san, -chan, and -sama. Not to be mixed up with Oba-san.

(2) Damuassu:  
I was trying to get Japanese-speaking Sasuke to use the English insult, "Dumbass."

(3) Yu faakaa:  
"You fucker." Now it's Naruto using it.

(4) Yakitori:  
A typical festival food in Japan. From what I know, it's chicken on a skewer and barbequed. It's really good.

(5) Odango, or just dango:  
Another typical festival food in Japan. It's a sweet, essentially. I've only tried the Okinawa dango, but my dear God, it's delicious. If you ever get the opportunity, get some. Okinawa dango is like a donut, but it's fried and round. So good!

(6) Japanese styles of writing:  
In Japanese, there are three main styles of writing: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana is the most basic, and contains every sound in the original Japanese language. You can pretty much write any Japanese phrase in hiragana, though it may not make sense sometimes with Kanji. Katakana is phonetically the same as hiragana, but the characters in this system are written differently, and there are additional sounds. Katakana is used for terms that are foreign to the original Japanese language, such as the name Might Guy, or Rock Lee. (In Japan, Lee's name would be pronounced, 'Rokku Ri-', similar to how you'd say broccoli, just subtract the b sound, and written in katakana.) Kanji is the third, and by far the hardest to remember and learn. Kanji are Chinese characters that are incorporated into the Japanese writing system in order to avoid confusion when writing. For example, the word, "koi". This word is both for the carp fish, and for love. If you wrote, "うつくしい こい", or "beautiful koi", in hiragana, it's almost impossible to distinguish which koi you're talking about: the fish or love. (I'm pretty sure. I hope.)

(7) The three measurements:  
If you watched the anime, I'm pretty sure you know what this is. For a girl, the big three measurements are the size of your hips, your waist, and your bust. In Japan, they do take these measurements, and these are fairly personal, especially if a little self-conscious.

(8) 'Similar' in the air?:  
I tried to find a word that meant a tie, or a draw, but I had a hard time finding a solid word, so I just settled for onajiku. Shizune was writing the kanji used in the word onajiku. There is no specific kanji for onajiku as a whole word, but by using the kanji that is in it, it's easy to assume that's what's meant.

(9) 1000 yen:  
About ten dollars.

Review, review, review please!


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